Negligent lawmakers

The final by-elections of the 18th National Assembly are over. The incumbent parliament is approaching the end of its term after three years. The next general elections are less than a year away. Lawmakers are strongly urged to show over their remaining terms even half of the sincerity and commitment they pledged in their campaigns in the last general elections.

Looking back over the past three years, many feel like punching the lawmakers with their fists. It took as many as 87 days for the 18th National Assembly to just open its first main session. Is there anything that the Assembly has done? Lawmakers must reflect on if they had no intent to care about the people who elected them and if their focus was their own private interests.

The ruling and opposition parties even sought to secretly pass a revision bill to election law through a compromise to ease the criteria for revoking election wins for violation of election rules, only to be caught and curbed eventually. When six lawmakers faced trial over illicit lobbying by Cheongmokhoe, or a national friendship coalition of security guards, parties sought to revise the Political Fund Act to resolve the scandal. They also secretly passed a law allowing payment of 1.2 million won (1,111 U.S. dollars) in monthly subsidies to ex-lawmakers in the name of helping them maintain their “elegance.” This was intended to secure financial gains for their own future. Even when ruling and opposition lawmakers engaged in brawls over the passage of budget bills, they colluded to raise their own salaries 5.1 percent and introduced allowances for their families and their children’s tuition.

Majority rule, which is valid even in a first-grade class, was not followed at the National Assembly. Parliament has constantly resorted to violence, starting with the “mobilization of hammers” in its first year to a physical struggle during the deliberation of the budget bill late last year. Lawmakers even wielded hammers and electric saws in their bid to block the submission of the ratification bill for the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement, further disgracing the nation. The Legislation and Judiciary Committee is the panel for reviewing expressions in bills, but the committee’s chairman rejected the submission of bills, citing lack of compromise between rival parties. This irresponsible act paralyzed the very functions of the National Assembly.

The ruling party has been incompetent and cowardly at best. It drafted the North Korean Human Rights Act in the 17th National Assembly as the main opposition party, but has yet to pass it despite having a parliamentary majority. A lawmaker who opposed proceeding with parliamentary meetings based on physical force effectively blocked the submission of a bill for the ratification of the Korea-European Union free trade deal, but stopped short of criticizing the actions of opposition lawmakers that hindered meetings through the use of physical forces.

Both ruling and opposition lawmakers have been negligent in their duties. Their most important task is to propose, deliberate and approve bills, but only about 60 percent of them have participated in parliamentary votes in the 18th Assembly. A number of lawmakers even failed to participate in voting for bills they submitted themselves. Extraordinary and regular plenary sessions were often delayed, but lawmakers received their pay as scheduled without fail. Voters should have never expected such irresponsible lawmakers to pay attention to national interests and go beyond the interests of their own constituencies.

Fortunately, voter turnout in Wednesday’s by-elections was higher than expected, meaning the people have not given up on politics. Using the by-elections as a turning point, lawmakers should ask themselves what their original duties are and do their best to responsibly establish a National Assembly for the people over its remaining year in office.