Report Card for 17th Nat’l Assembly

The 17th National Assembly has effectively ended with the confirmation of Han Seung-soo as prime minister. Grand National Party lawmaker Ahn Myung-ok was the most prolific lawmaker with 143 bills among the 299-member Assembly.

Over the past four years, the National Assembly has proposed 6,345 bills, an average of 21.2 per lawmaker. Thus it took an average of 68 days for a lawmaker to sponsor a bill.

○ GNP Lawmakers Active in Legislation

According to the National Assembly’s homepage, GNP lawmaker Ahn Sang-soo proposed the most bills with 90, followed by Eom Ho-seong (82), Lee Seong-gu (75), Kim Seok-joon (73), Park Chan-sook (72), Jeong Seong-ho (66), Lee Gye-gyeong (61) and Lee Seong-gwon (57).

Presidential secretary for political affairs Bahk Jae-wan proposed 74 bills while a legislator. The top ten bill proposers included nine GNP members and one from the liberal United New Democratic Party, Jeong Seong-ho.

Among the nine GNP members were four first-timers who were proportionally represented by the party -- Ahn Myung-ok, Lee Seong-gu, Park Chan-sook and Lee Gye-gyeong. If former GNP member Bahk is included, the number rises to five. Only 21 or 1/14th of the party’s members are proportionally represented. Despite the small percentage, however, they were active in legislation.

○ 25 Legislators Passed More than Six Bills

Ahn Sang-soo proposed the most bills that passed in the 17th National Assembly with 24, followed by fellow GNP members Kim Seok-joon (20) and Ahn Myung-ok (14). Since 23 bills sponsored by Ahn Sang-soo after he was elected floor leader in August last year were passed, it seems most of the bills that the party proposed were submitted under his name.

Lee Seong-gwon had 13 of his bills go through and Liberty Forward Party lawmaker Park Sang-don 11 and GNP lawmaker Lee Myung-gyu 10. Only 25 lawmakers lodged more than six bills that passed over the past four years.

○ Certain Lawmakers Did Little

Seven legislators did not propose a single bill during their terms. They include UNDP lawmakers Kim Geun-tae, Rhee In-je, Kim Jong-in, Kim Song-ja, the GNP’s Lee Won-bok, Liberty Forward’s Cho Soon-hyung and independent Lee Hae-chan.

Several lawmakers served relatively short terms. Kim Song-ja was named under the proportional representation system in September 2006. Cho and Lee Won-bok were elected in by-elections in July and October 2006, respectively.

○ Experienced Lawmakers Sponsored Fewer Bills

Only 15 lawmakers proposed more than 48 bills, or more than one per month on average, during their four-year terms. Among them were 16 first-timers, two second-timers and two third-timers. Experienced legislators were more likely interested in politics rather than legislation.

Twenty percent of lawmakers, or 59, sponsored fewer than four bills while in office. Overall, 120 legislators submitted fewer than ten bills over four years.

○ Majority of submitted bills rejected

A total of 7,446 bills were submitted to the 17th National Assembly, but only 25.2 percent or 1,873 were passed. Thus the 299 legislators passed an average of 39 bills per month. The 16th National Assembly passed 945 and the 15th 1,120 bills.

The number of bills passed in the 17th National Assembly that were proposed by legislators was 1,316 out of 6,345 bills, or 20.7 percent, and 55 of 1,101 bills (50.6 percent) sponsored by the administration were approved. In other words, half of government-sponsored bills were made into law while 80 percent of bills sponsored by legislators failed to pass, showing the poor performance of legislators.

Legislators apparently sponsor bills, but given that the government proposes a bill and submits it to the National Assembly under the name of a lawmaker who belongs to a standing committee, the real passage rate is probably lower than published.

Over the past four years, 2,264 bills were rejected, repealed or withdrawn and 3,309 remain pending and face repeal by the end of May, when the 17th National Assembly ends its session.

jkmas@donga.com behappy@donga.com