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Concession makes a party the victor

Published: 08 Aug. 2024, 20:03

The governing and opposition parties have finally agreed to deal with a number of urgent bills directly linked to people’s livelihoods. On Thursday, two deputy floor leaders of the governing People Power Party (PPP) and the majority Democratic Party (DP) reached a rare agreement on running the National Assembly in a tripartite meeting, including a representative of the government this time. The settlement came 70 days after the opening of the 22nd National Assembly at the end of May.

The two major parties wasted time fighting over political issues totally unrelated to people’s daily lives. Citizens’ fatigue and anger about their representatives have reached their limits. We welcome the two parties’ agreement, though belated, to return to their original mission. They must prove their sincerity now.

The two parties decided to first deal with a bill aimed at restricting parents’ inheritance rights if they neglect their duty to raise their children and another bill designed to allow physician assistants (PAs) to conduct some surgeries to fill the medical void from trainee doctors’ months-long walkout. The two parties also agreed to cut utility charges for the vulnerable class amid the sizzling summer heat. Given “global risks” from the Middle East conflict and uncertainties from the November U.S. presidential election, many bills are awaiting their swift legislation — such as the K-Chips Act, the High-level Radioactive Waste Disposal Act and a revision to extend childcare leave for working parents.

Over the past 70 days, the DP submitted nine motions for special investigations of the government and seven motions for impeachment to defend its leader Lee Jae-myung from his own judicial risks and attack President Yoon Suk Yeol. The DP even pushed the passage of a highly controversial bill aimed at allowing more “legitimate” strikes by labor unions. The PPP was no different as it was only engrossed in safeguarding the president even at the cost of boycotting the Assembly.

The two parties must not let their rare consensus go down the drain. The DP must accept the PPP’s demand for a ceasefire in August to pass livelihood-related bills quickly. The DP must also reach an agreement with the PPP on establishing a trilateral consultative body as fast as possible.

The governing party needs to positively consider a DP-proposed meeting between Yoon and Lee to tackle a plethora of pressing economic issues. The DP must stop its repeated resubmissions of contentious bills already vetoed by the president. It would be better for both sides to first deal with bills with little room for disagreement. If either side knows how to concede for the country’s sake, not the party’s, it will become the winner.