Nat`l Assembly opens with GNP attending; bumpy road ahead

The National Assembly held an opening ceremony this afternoon for the 215th regular session, which will run for 100 days, with ruling and opposition party lawmakers in attendance.

Initially, the members of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) were set to boycott the opening ceremony, but they attended the meeting following decisions reached at a meeting of the party`s president and vice presidents, and the ensuing caucus of its lawmakers, in the morning.

However, the operation of the parliament is expected to be rough sailing from the beginning, as opposition lawmakers are adamantly demanding the appointment of a special prosecutor to conduct a parliamentary probe into allegations of ruling Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) interference in the election management committee`s investigations into MDP lawmakers` election campaign expenses. The GNP is refusing to discuss Assembly operation with the ruling party and is planning to stage extra-parliamentary struggles to press for its demand.

GNP president Lee Hoi-Chang told the lawmakers` caucus that his party members` participation in the Assembly opening session did not mean the GNP would grapple with all pending problems within the parliament or give up waging campaigns outside the Assembly. This indicates that the GNP will launch all-out struggles outside the legislature.

Assembly Speaker Lee Man-Sup said in his opening address that the parliament has long shunned pressing tasks connected to the people`s livelihood and engaged in cutthroat politics and showdowns based on self-centered partisan interests, thus exposing the most ugly and shameful aspects of the legislature. He called upon the rival parties to normalize legislative functions as soon as possible.

The Assembly regular session, which was convened for the first time since the start of the new millennium, is to last until December 9. The parliamentary session`s most pressing task is to deal with various legislative bills and measures concerned with public welfare, political and economic reforms, and next year`s budget. In addition, the Assembly is scheduled to conduct a 20-day parliamentary audit and inspection as a means of supervising the execution of state affairs by the administration and related organizations.