Civic Groups Urge Passage of Gov`t Budget Bill

Seven civic groups held Monday a joint presentation and seminar to urge the National Assembly to pass the national budget bill at the Seoul Press Center.

The groups included Citizens United for a Better Society, Lawyers for the People, and the Center for Free Enterprise

They demanded immediate approval of the bill, saying in a statement, “We need to set up a new provision to penalize any delay in the budget’s approval.”

Yun Chang-hyeon, secretary-general of the citizens’ group, said, “If the National Assembly fails to pass the budget by a certain deadline, it should be considered as failing to properly do its job and be penalized by cutting the parliamentary budget or subsidies to parties under a new provision."

salt@donga.com