With the presidential election less than a month away, lawmakers of the ruling and opposition parties are rushing to pass populist bills to capture votes. Their reckless abuse of legislative power should be stopped as it will not only waste taxpayers’ money but give rise to unnecessary social conflicts.
Last week, lawmakers on the National Assembly’s Committee on Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs approved a bill to recognize taxis as public transportation and entitle taxi companies to more financial assistance from the central and local governments.
Cab drivers have long demanded that the government treat taxis as a form of public transport. In June, taxi drivers in Seoul went on a strike, declaring that they would vote for a candidate in the December presidential election who would accommodate their demand.
The committee’s move, however, triggered a backlash from bus companies, as it would force the government to scale down its financial support for them. So they have resolved to stop bus services across the nation Thursday, should the bill pass the Judiciary-Legislative Committee on Wednesday.
Taxi companies deserve more support from the government as they are not allowed to freely increase fares to reflect rising fuel prices and other costs. And local governments have issued too many licenses to cab drivers, making it difficult for them to earn a living.
Yet designating taxis as public transport is not a desirable solution to these problems. In the first place, taxis cannot be seen as public transport because they do not fit the definition given by the relevant law ― “a system that is used to transport people in large numbers according to a specific route and operation schedule.”
To ease the difficulty facing taxi companies, the government needs to reduce the number of taxis in operation and allow taxi fares to rise to a level that would make the taxi business profitable.
Another example of the abuse of legislative power was given by lawmakers on the National Defense Committee. The panel has revised the law on the relocation of Air Force bases, obliging the Ministry of National Defense and the Air Force to promote the relocation of air bases if local governments hosting them want it.
There is obviously a need to relocate some of the Air Force’s 16 bases around the country, as they inflict enormous difficulties on residents around them. These military facilities also encroach upon the residents’ property rights.
But the bill ignores the fact that Korea has a severely limited amount of land. Relocating an air base requires a site of at least 30 square kilometers. Not only is it difficult to secure such a large site; but even if a suitable site is found, there is no guarantee that residents around it would vote for the construction of a new base.
Furthermore, relocating an air base costs about 3 trillion won. For these reasons, the panel itself scrapped a similar bill submitted in the run-up to the April general elections.
The new bill should be voted down in a plenary session as it would, if approved, raise unrealistic expectations among residents living near air bases. These expectations could degenerate into bitter disappointment and violent protests if they are not met.
In another case of legislative populism, the Knowledge Economy Committee has passed a bill to impose more restrictions on large retail establishments. The bill proposes to shorten the business hours of superstores from the current 8 a.m. to midnight to 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The bill also calls for increasing the compulsory closing days of large retailers from the current two days a month to a maximum three days a month.
Yet the panel completely ignored a voluntary agreement reached between the representatives of large and small retailers the previous day. Under the deal, large retailers pledged to refrain from setting up shop in small cities with a population of less than 300,000.
The bill also baffled Minister of Knowledge Economy Hong Suk-woo who mediated between the two sides. Ministry officials said they would do their best to prevent the bill from being pushed through a plenary session.
Besides these examples, lawmakers have passed a flurry of bills that discredit their proclaimed commitment to political reform. They should be more prudent in exercising their legislative authority.
