Scuffles again erupt inside the National Assembly
Published: 17 Dec. 2009, 20:06
Lawmakers from the main opposition Democratic Party and the ruling Grand National Party engage in a scuffle at the chairman’s seat of the Budget and Account Committee yesterday. Dozens of Democrats occupied the conference room of the committee ahead of a meeting on 2010 budget deliberations yesterday morning. By Kim Kyung-bin
The DP’s occupation lasted until late night as the two main parties failed to narrow their differences.
The National Assembly could not meet the Dec. 2 deadline for 2010 budget deliberations due to political squabbles over the administration’s four rivers restoration project.
The DP claims the 6.7 trillion won ($5.7 billion) budget for the project should be slashed to 1 trillion won. The government budget for next year is pegged at 291.8 trillion won.
The GNP urged the DP to join the move to establish the subcommittee, imposing a deadline of 10 a.m. but DP lawmakers insisted the budget cut should be prioritized and the subcommittee should be created after a three-way meeting with President Lee Myung-bak.
President Lee reversed a campaign pledge to create an inland canal linking southern and northern rivers after the public and opposition parties raised questions over its plausibility. The DP suspects the administration is trying to advance the “grand canal” project by disguising it as the four rivers restoration project.
Some 20 minutes after the Democrats raided the conference room, Shim Jae-chul, special chair of the Committee on Budget and Account and a three-time GNP legislator, walked into the room at 10 a.m. and asked the lawmakers to disperse. Scuffles and wrangling between ruling and opposition lawmakers ensued. Shim called for the meeting to begin at 10:45 a.m. but immediately announced adjournment until 2 p.m. GNP lawmakers left the conference room as the DP’s occupation continued.
“The GNP has proposed a three-way meeting with the president and us but at the same time it is putting pressure on us. Let’s not yield to any external pressure and do our duty,” said DP leader Chung Sye-kyun in front of lawmakers at the conference room in the afternoon. “Since it cannot manage to say what it wants to say and is playing the role of a puppet controlled by the Blue House or the president, the National Assembly is not functioning properly.” He said the president “should change his mind.”
GNP floor leader Ahn Sang-soo said, “We have never insisted on sticking with the original budget. We said we will cut the budget if it is deemed necessary - even the one for the four rivers project. But first we need to form the subcommittee.”
DP floor leader Lee Kang-rae said the budget issue could not be resolved before President Lee comes forward and presents a solution.
“We need to form the subcommittee after laying out a bigger frame at the summit talk between party leaders,” he said.
By Seo Ji-eun [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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