New Assembly should follow path of dialogue, cooperation

May 28, 2020, 08:46 am

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Democratic Party chairman Lee Hae-chan (front row, third form left), Coronavirus response committee chief Lee Nak-yon (fourth), and other lawmakers-elect attend a workshop held at The-K Hotel in Seoul, May 28, 2020./ Photographed by Jung Jae-hoon

AsiaToday reporters Lim Yoo-jin & Kim Yeon-ji

As the 21st National Assembly inaugurates on May 30, experts from each field called for the upcoming National Assembly to get to work promptly, communicate and cooperate. In particular, they suggested that the assembly should take the lead in drawing great social agreement in order to overcome the COVID-19 crisis and secure jobs.

“The National Assembly is a forum for dialogue, negotiation and discussion,” politics critic Park Sang-byeong told AsiaToday in a phone interview on Wednesday. “The National Assembly is the headquarters of democracy and politics. Politics has been missing due to infinite political dispute between the ruling and the opposition parties. If there is a disagreement between the rival parties, they should fully explain to the people and negotiate with generosity.”

Professor Kim Kwan-ok of Keimyung University hoped that lawmakers don’t wrangle with each other in the upcoming National Assembly since the situation is tough due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “The National Assembly should reach a solution to a problem through cooperation instead of political disputes.”

Experts ordered the ruling Democratic Party (DP), which will control 177 seats in the parliament, to have sense of humbleness and responsibility while asking the main opposition United Future Party (UFP) not to pursue unconditional opposition. “The people did not give the DP 180 seats for free. It is their message for the National Assembly to lead the legislative branch of Republic of Korea,” Park said. “The ruling party should come up with a good strategy to avoid extreme opposition from its rival parties. The main opposition party should respond to negotiations and dialogue. If it wants to go against the ruling party’s opinion, it needs to explain to the people why and have a good justification for objection. It must avoid unconditional opposition, over-the-counter meetings, and rude talk.”

Myongji University professor Kim Hyung-jun said the country’s National Assembly should change. “It should become diligent and powerful enough to take responsibility so that people can judge if it does something wrong,” Kim said.

“If the ruling party pushes something with its majority, it will be punished on its own,” said prof. Kim Kwan-ok. “The main opposition party will be judged again if it tries to get in the way as it did before.”

Kim suggested that the ruling and the opposition parties should put follow-up bills to overcome the COVID-19 crisis as well as bills to revive the economy as key agenda in the upcoming National Assembly. “The 21st National Assembly must respond proactively in the financial, legislative and administrative sectors that are influenced by the COVID-19 crisis,” the professor said.

#New Assembly #21st National Assembly