On Wednesday, the final day of the latest extraordinary session of the National Assembly, members passed 115 bills on the agenda. To make that possible, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee passed 97 bills in a single day, one day ahead of time. That is like licking the outside of a watermelon. Opposition members of the committee have at this point made it a habit to occupy its chambers. Disrupted operations and then hasty examination of the legislation have become National Assembly trademarks.
The main floor of the Assembly gave up its duties of legislative review long ago with its hasty introduction and passage of bills. Not that standing committees are spending the time necessary for ample deliberation. The behavior is even more a problem when it comes to the political confrontation. Sometimes the Assembly runs idle because one side or the other holds a bill hostage. Then they pass the pile of legislation that has accumulated at the last available moment left during a given session, in order to escape criticism for neglecting the country's welfare. Maybe it is a matter of course that bills are passed without being looked at in a climate where the Assembly is dominated by party-centered strategy.
The legislative bottleneck at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee is also a big problem. At Korea's National Assembly, bills go through a three-phase process before being passed; standing committees, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, and the main Assembly floor. Of these, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee is responsible for proper organization of the language and structure of each bill it reviews. That is a very functional and formal role, one not suited for the work of members of the Assembly in determining the directions of legislative policy and actual content. Everyone knows that the role of the committee gets abused as one of the main delay tactics in times of partisan strife. It would be worth considering having the National Assembly Secretariat or some new and independent body within the Assembly perform the role of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.
The Assembly must change to be consistent with the spirit of the times. Its operational framework originated in a need to maintain control and efficiency amidst ruling/opposition confrontation back in the days when political "bosses" ruled their parties, and the framework needs to change. Members are chosen through direct election by the people, so operations should center around standing committees and not be led by the parties. That would have to begin with returning authority about deliberation procedures and voting to individual Assembly members. It is time to have year-round Assembly sessions, with bills automatically sent to standing committees and the main floor on schedule for in-depth discussion, and to havethe maturity to pass bills by majority decision.
The Hankyoreh, 3 March 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Time to Fix Nat'l Assembly Operations |
