President Park Geun-hye vetoed the controversial parliamentary hearing bill on Friday, generating a torrent of criticism from the opposition parties who vowed to re-endorse it at the next parliament.
At a temporary Cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, the government asked the parliament to reconsider the bill that would give wider legislative reach in holding hearings, citing the possibility of unconstitutionality.
Last Thursday, the National Assembly had passed the bill that allows standing committees to call for public hearings to deliberate and investigate on any agendas considered important.
Cheong Wa Dae has been openly disgruntled with the bill, claiming that it could be used a political tool that can paralyze the executive branch. Park, who is currently in Africa on a 12-day trip to Ethiopia Uganda, Kenya and France, exercised the veto power through the electronic approval system, Cheong Wa Dae said.
This is the 66th veto power exercised by the president in Korean history and the second veto by the Park Geun-hye administration.
“The bill is (equivalent to) introducing the legislative’s new control measure against the executive branch, which does not come in accord with the Constitution that ensures the division of powers, check and balance,” said Hwang.
The veto, although widely anticipated, quickly doused prospects of a sound opening of the next Assembly on Monday, with the issue likely to overcloud pending discussion over how to form the new parliament. The parties had agreed to meet the deadline of electing the new speaker by June 7 and new chairpersons for standing committees by June 9.
The opposition parties slammed Park’s veto, insisting that they would collectively push for the same bill in the 20th National Assembly slated to kick off Monday.
“The three floor leaders of the opposition parties vowed to pass the bill in the next parliament. (Park’s veto) is very shameful and immature. The public will criticize it, thinking that the government still has not come to itself, although the government was judged by the public in the April general election,” said Rep. Woo Sang-ho, the floor leader of the main opposition The Minjoo Party of Korea.
After a presidential veto, the Assembly must revote on it and it requires at least two thirds of approval with over half of the lawmakers attending. The ruling party has been claiming that with the end of the current Assembly, a revote is not valid and that the bill is automatically terminated.
The opposition, on the other hand, contends that the Constitution holds up the validity of a bill that has been endorsed before the end of the session regardless of a presidential veto.
The Constitution Article 51 stipulates that bills submitted to the parliament shall not be abandoned on the grounds that they were not endorsed during the session in which they were introduced, except in a case in which the term of the lawmakers has expired.
“It cannot be repealed automatically. According to the interpretation of law experts we discussed with, repassing the bill is possible in the next parliament,” said People’s Party floor leader Rep. Park Jie-won.
The parties also said that if the Assembly secretariat decides against the legitimacy of the revote, they would consider filing the case with the Constitutional Court for review, or resubmit the same bill for another round.
The ruling Saenuri Party, however, defended Park’s move, claiming that the decision is the president’s own right.
“The veto power is the president’s exclusive authority that should not be considered as a taboo. It is reasonable that the work of the 19th National Assembly is wrapped up in the 19th parliament. Resubmitting the bill in the 20th National Assembly that was submitted by the 19th parliament lawmakers is not legal,” said Saenuri floor leader Rep. Chung Jin-suk.
By Lee Hyun-jeong (rene@heraldcorp.com)
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Articles by Korea Herald