Younger lawmakers call for normalcy

A group of younger lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties have

come up with a joint demand that their parties should refrain from using them as

"attackers" on the rival parties and the National Assembly must be normalized

as soon as possible, expressing worries over the prolonging parliamentary

paralysis due to inter-party standoff.

In a press conference held at the Assembly, Reps. Chung Bum-Koo, Kim Sung-Ho and Lee Chong-Keul of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party, and Reps. Ahn

Yung-Keun of the oppostion Grand National Party, underlined the points in a

statement they read. The statement was also undersigned by such lawmakers as

Rep. Hahm Sung-Hee of the MDP, and Reps. Kim Won-Ung and Suh Sang-sup of

the GNP.

In the statement, the lawmakers asserted that their party leaderships are

responsible for causing the crippled Assembly due to their partisan interest in

disregard of the national interest, saying that the parliament is running counter to

the people`s aspirations.

They also said that they are reflecting on the fact that they have acted as their

parties dictated, and then put forward a four-point demand to their respective parties:

First, they will reject their party leaderships` order on their acting as attackers,

adding that they will not follow any unjustiable directions from the parties.

Second, the Assembly should remain a place of quarreling with

finger-pointing, yelling, name-calling and so forth.

Third, the Assembly must not be closed for whatever reasons.

Fouth, they vowed to do their best to establish righteous "parliamentary culture"

in which dialogue and compromise are in place.

Rep. Ahn elaborated that it is not possible for them to change the current

politics overnight but that they will continue their effort to realize a new political

landscape.