How to shake up the Constitution

The Democratic Party (DP), which will command a majority in the next National Assembly after its sweeping victory in the April 10 parliamentary elections, vowed to submit a bill aimed at handing out 250,000 won ($184) in cash to each citizen as its first piece of legislation in the new legislature. The main opposition’s new floor leader, Park Chan-dae, is aggressively pushing through the agenda of his boss, Lee Jae-myung, who urged his party to make the most of “special law” provisions to help people through relief funds or debt write-offs.

A universal cash handout costing 13 trillion won calls for a supplementary budget to raise that amount. The DP plans to motion the bill in a special law that can circumvent government intervention. The special legislation has an immediate impact on public rights and duties without going through the executive or judiciary branches.

The legislature had invoked the special law provisions through the May 18 Special Act to nullify the statute of limitations for former presidents Chun Doo Hwan and Roh Tae-woo in punishing their roles in the Gwangju Democracy Movement. But special legislation targeting a specific person or groups can encroach on the power of the executive branch and the principle of the separation of powers. In 2008, the Constitutional Court ruled that a special act aimed at punishing then-president-elect Lee Myung-bak does not violate the Constitution.

But the DP’s special law proposal for a universal cash handout went too far. The effect from spending against a tight budget is questionable in boosting consumption but rather can boost inflationary pressure. A study by the Korea Development Institute found the first round of the pandemic relief fund ended up boosting consumption by just 0.26 to 0.36 times the handout amount. The unilateral decision by the DP to pursue the handout can outright defy the Constitution, which prohibits the legislature from raising the fiscal budget without the consent of the government.

The DP also plans to resubmit the bill, which mandates the government to purchase excess rice crops each year to stabilize agricultural food prices. But the bill was vetoed by President Yoon Suk Yeol. Mandatory government purchases of excess rice would cost over 3 trillion won a year. Setting the bottom prices for certain fresh food prices also can stoke an unnecessary social conflict. Lawmaking is the exclusive role of the National Assembly. But economy-related laws should be approached with discretion after tapping the opinions of various experts.

The majority opposition must pay heed to the advice from the authors of “How Democracies Die” that the norms of toleration and restraint should serve as the guardrails of democracy.