GNP may convene Assembly unilaterally

The ruling Grand National Party plans to hold a meeting of its lawmakers today to decide whether to convene a June extra parliamentary session without opposition parties.

The move comes more than three weeks after the scheduled opening date of the National Assembly`s extraordinary session.

With the sudden suicide of the now-deceased former President Roh Moo-hyun, the 84-member main opposition Democratic Party has been refusing to attend the session unless the current Lee Myung-bak administration and the majority GNP accepts its preconditions.

The GNP has 170 of the National Assembly`s 299 seats, three of which will be empty until by-elections in October, as their holders were stripped of their status after being convicted of election law violations.



The DP has been demanding an apology from President Lee for causing Roh`s suicide and calling for an independent inquiry into how a bribery investigation into the former president had proceeded.

"We will hold a party caucus to decide on the convening of the National Assembly today. If we vote on going ahead with the GNP-attended parliamentary session, it will begin on Thursday," said GNP floor leader Ahn Sang-soo.

However, a GNP-only parliamentary session will likely trigger another battle, possibly a physical one, as the DP say it will not allow such a move.

"Going into such a parliamentary session is the same as surrendering, which neglects the meaning of an opposition party," said DP deputy floor leader Woo Yoon-keun.

Whether the extra ordinary session could open this month or it will move onto next month as some observers predict, what is expected to be the most fiercely disputed bill upon many others is the media-related bill.

The bill is expected to lift some decades-old restrictions on newspapers and conglomerates in the television business.

While the GNP claims passing of the bill could help revive the economy, opponents, including the DP, argue that the amendment would pave the way for major conservative newspapers and large businesses to dominate the media landscape.

Earlier last week, the activities of a 20-member media development discussion group, affiliated with the parliamentary culture, broadcasting and communications committee, ended abruptly after major political parties failed to agree on changes to the media law.

The main opposition party proposed a nationwide survey to get the public`s response, which the ruling party called unnecessary, as both main parties have already agreed to pass it during the scheduled parliamentary session.

"After more than three months of discussions, the GNP and the DP made an agreement to pass the media law in the June parliamentary session," said GNP lawmaker Na Kyung-won, who is the GNP ranking member in the committee.

"The media development discussion group held 18 meetings and seven public hearings, which were attended by 55 experts. I believe these processes were part of the public opinion gathering phase."

Rep. Jun Byung-hun of the DP, however, said that members of the main opposition party will consider all possible measures to prevent the GNP from passing the bill without their approval.

"The GNP is currently against organizing the public survey because they know citizens are not supportive of the media law," he said. "If the GNP refuses to hammer out an agreement on holding a survey by Thursday, the discussion group will have to put an absolute stop to its activities."

In a related event, the DP will announce the results of a self-conducted survey today, which was expected to consult least 1,000 adults on the media-related bills.

(sharon@heraldm.com)

By Cho Ji-hyun