Rival parties fail to reach agreement to normalize parliament
- 6 years ago
Rival parties are at an impasse over how to amend the Constitution as well as possible changes to the Broadcast Act, if necessary, to ensure neutrality on the public airwaves.
Naturally the government's proposal for extra spending is waiting in line.
Kim Min-ji has the latest from the National Assembly.
Despite three rounds of talks on Monday,... rival parties failed to hammer out an agreement to normalize parliament, which has been at a standstill since last week.
For starters, the parties are still far apart on how to amend the country's decades-old Constitution.
Most parties have put forward their own versions as a basis for negotiations,... but they've only reconfirmed their differences over contentious areas,... such as changing the government structure.
Opposition parties want to reduce the president's powers and give more authority to a prime minister,... picked or recommend by parliament.
But the ruling party, which prefers a four-year presidency... with the possibility of a second, consecutive term,... argues that this could lead to paralysis in state affairs if the president and prime minister are unable to get along.
Another disputed area is revising the Broadcast Act.
The opposition are calling for public broadcasters to have a 13-member board -- seven members recommended by the ruling party and six by the opposition bloc.
And to elect a company chief, two-thirds of the board's approval would be needed.
The opposition parties want the bill to be passed swiftly to strengthen broadcast neutrality,... but the ruling party has called for further discussions on the matter.
And the standoff is holding back other agendas.
A full parliament session scheduled for Monday was called off -- in which Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon was set to give a policy speech on the government's proposed extra budget bill,... worth about 3-point-7 billion U.S. dollars.
The current situation also puts in doubt whether the parliamentary interpellation session scheduled to begin on Tuesday will go ahead as planned.
"The National Assembly has already wasted a week with no work done, despite a stack of agendas to go through in April. Eyes will be on when and to what extent the parties will make concessions to get parliament moving again. Kim Min-ji, Arirang News."
Naturally the government's proposal for extra spending is waiting in line.
Kim Min-ji has the latest from the National Assembly.
Despite three rounds of talks on Monday,... rival parties failed to hammer out an agreement to normalize parliament, which has been at a standstill since last week.
For starters, the parties are still far apart on how to amend the country's decades-old Constitution.
Most parties have put forward their own versions as a basis for negotiations,... but they've only reconfirmed their differences over contentious areas,... such as changing the government structure.
Opposition parties want to reduce the president's powers and give more authority to a prime minister,... picked or recommend by parliament.
But the ruling party, which prefers a four-year presidency... with the possibility of a second, consecutive term,... argues that this could lead to paralysis in state affairs if the president and prime minister are unable to get along.
Another disputed area is revising the Broadcast Act.
The opposition are calling for public broadcasters to have a 13-member board -- seven members recommended by the ruling party and six by the opposition bloc.
And to elect a company chief, two-thirds of the board's approval would be needed.
The opposition parties want the bill to be passed swiftly to strengthen broadcast neutrality,... but the ruling party has called for further discussions on the matter.
And the standoff is holding back other agendas.
A full parliament session scheduled for Monday was called off -- in which Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon was set to give a policy speech on the government's proposed extra budget bill,... worth about 3-point-7 billion U.S. dollars.
The current situation also puts in doubt whether the parliamentary interpellation session scheduled to begin on Tuesday will go ahead as planned.
"The National Assembly has already wasted a week with no work done, despite a stack of agendas to go through in April. Eyes will be on when and to what extent the parties will make concessions to get parliament moving again. Kim Min-ji, Arirang News."