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The ruling and main opposition parties on Sunday agreed to extend their budget review until Tuesday, when the budget will be processed on schedule.
If the parties follow through with the agreement, it will be the first time in 12 years in which the budget bill is approved within the deadline set by the Constitution. Under the revised National Assembly Act, the parties must complete the budget review by midnight Nov. 30 or the budget proposed by the government will be put to a vote unmodified. However, if the parties manage to draw up a modified bill before the plenary session on Tuesday, the government’s bill will be scrapped.
Saying that it would be difficult to reach an agreement in the time remaining, the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy announced that negotiations will be extended.
Special Committee on Budget and Accounts chief Rep. Hong Moon-pyo said that extending the review was inevitable as the decision regarding the Nuri Curriculum was made with only two days remaining until the Nov. 30 deadline. The Nuri Curriculum is a free childcare program for those aged between 3 and 5. The ruling party had maintained that local education offices must foot the bill, while the NPAD demanded that the state find the funding. As a compromise, the parties agreed to subsidize the program using the Education Ministry’s budget.
“The Nuri Curriculum issue delayed the Education, Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee’s preliminary review, and the review to cut the Education Ministry’s (budget) only began at midnight two days ago,” Hong said.
He added that it would have been difficult to review and reflect changes requested by various parliamentary committees on time.
The committees have requested an additional 16 trillion won ($14 billion) to be allocated to various projects. The Special Committee on Budget and Accounts, however, had only reduced the budget drawn up by the government by 3 trillion won, leaving little room for compromise.
Although lawmakers from both sides have said that the budget review is about 90 percent complete, the negotiations are likely to prove difficult with the two parties having taken directly opposing positions.
The NPAD hopes to cut what it refers to as the “Park Geun-hye brand” budget that includes funding for the administration’s creative economy projects, against strong resistance from the ruling party.
By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)
If the parties follow through with the agreement, it will be the first time in 12 years in which the budget bill is approved within the deadline set by the Constitution. Under the revised National Assembly Act, the parties must complete the budget review by midnight Nov. 30 or the budget proposed by the government will be put to a vote unmodified. However, if the parties manage to draw up a modified bill before the plenary session on Tuesday, the government’s bill will be scrapped.
Saying that it would be difficult to reach an agreement in the time remaining, the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy announced that negotiations will be extended.
Special Committee on Budget and Accounts chief Rep. Hong Moon-pyo said that extending the review was inevitable as the decision regarding the Nuri Curriculum was made with only two days remaining until the Nov. 30 deadline. The Nuri Curriculum is a free childcare program for those aged between 3 and 5. The ruling party had maintained that local education offices must foot the bill, while the NPAD demanded that the state find the funding. As a compromise, the parties agreed to subsidize the program using the Education Ministry’s budget.
“The Nuri Curriculum issue delayed the Education, Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee’s preliminary review, and the review to cut the Education Ministry’s (budget) only began at midnight two days ago,” Hong said.
He added that it would have been difficult to review and reflect changes requested by various parliamentary committees on time.
The committees have requested an additional 16 trillion won ($14 billion) to be allocated to various projects. The Special Committee on Budget and Accounts, however, had only reduced the budget drawn up by the government by 3 trillion won, leaving little room for compromise.
Although lawmakers from both sides have said that the budget review is about 90 percent complete, the negotiations are likely to prove difficult with the two parties having taken directly opposing positions.
The NPAD hopes to cut what it refers to as the “Park Geun-hye brand” budget that includes funding for the administration’s creative economy projects, against strong resistance from the ruling party.
By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)
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Articles by Korea Herald
