[Editorial] Political Reform Missing; People Are Infuriated

The National Assembly Elections are coming up in 100 days. Political parties are in all-out battle mode. They say their number one slogan is political reform, the number two is political reform, number three is political reform, and on and on.

However, there is no mention of the expurgation of money-controlled politics, the very crux of political reform. Late last year, the ad-hoc committee on political reforms was resolved after a botched attempt to push through a controversial political reform bill. “Floor leaders agreed to pass a resolution for the re-formation of the committee on January 8 or January 9,” said National Assembly Speak Pak Kwan-yong. But the re-formation appears to be a bygone. The current extra-session ends on January 8. If lawmakers don’t agree to a January extra-session, the re-formation will be postponed until February 2 when a regular session convenes.

Chances are rare that there will be an extra session of the National Assembly in January. Although it is temporary, there is a clause in the National Assembly law that allows extra sessions only in even-numbered months. For this reason, politicians agree that a January session is bound to be criticized what they call a “bulletproof session” to disprove the execution of arrest warrants against some lawmakers. Their failure to determine electoral precincts by the year-end was in effect a violation of the Constitution. And now they want to waste the entire January and meet in February.

However, there is little guarantee that political reform bills aimed at rooting out money-controlled politics will be fully debated. It is already completely revealed that lawmakers’ interests lie solely in the increase of National Assembly seats and the determination of electoral precincts. Evidently, they will pull and push each other over the issues. The reform bills would wait until the last moment to be passed, de- prioritized by the determination of electoral precincts. Politicians have already produced their own reform bill filled with regressive clauses, ignoring proposals made by the Pan-National Conference for Political Reform. Therefore, the passage of the bill itself is not a problem.

In connection with political corruption, the president said he would put his presidency for a vote of confidence. The former presidential candidate of the major opposition party made public apologies twice. Is this how money politics – which culminated in truckloads of cash meant for political slush funds – will end? How dare they talk about political reform after all this?

Lawmakers should at least continue discussions about political fund bills by re-forming the ad hoc committee before the current extra session ends. This is the last responsibility of the 16th National Assembly.