Parliament opens extraordinary session amid ongoing partisan dispute

(ATTN: TRIMS lead; UPDATES with legislators' quotes in paras 6, 10, 11)
By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, Dec. 10 (Yonhap) -- The National Assembly convened a one-month special session Wednesday to settle pending bills including next year's budget, as parties continued to wrangle over the government's controversial economic rescue plan.
Rival parties vowed to make haste in approving nearly 2,000 bills left untouched
since the new parliament convened in May, but remain widely split over how the
government should run the economy next year in the midst of a financial crisis.
Passing the 2009 spending plan is the foremost task for the Assembly, as it will
determine new measures on supporting low-income households and various tax cuts.
Already having missed the Dec. 2 legal deadline, the budget subcommittee has so
far only managed to decide on trimming 1.2 trillion won (US$829 million) from the
proposed 284 trillion won budget for the coming year.
Analysts say adjustments must be made to the plan, which assumes an annual
economic growth of 4 percent, far above prevalent estimates of about 2 percent
from economic forecasters.
The ruling Grand National Party (GNP) proposed opening two more subcommittees to
settle the spending plan on time, but opposition parties led by the liberal
Democratic Party (DP) have spurned the request, claiming the budget review should
not be rushed. Parties have agreed to pass the budget Thursday.
"If chances of reaching a compromise look slim, I will send the budget straight
to a vote," said budget committee head Lee Hahn-koo, a ruling party member. "We
are running out of time and must rush it if necessary."
The Democratic Labor Party (DLP), controlling five seats in the 299-member
unicameral house, became a thorn for the parliamentary session after its members
physically forced their way into due processes of the parliament.
The left-leaning minority party, composed mostly of former labor activists and
farmers, is strongly opposed to the conservative government's tax cut plan and
the push to pass a free trade pact with the United States.
Accusing the ruling party of using its dominance in the parliament to
unilaterally settle bills some view as favorable to the country's privileged, DLP
lawmakers physically blocked the passage of tax cut plans Tuesday and interrupted
a scheduled meeting between leaders of the two largest parties Monday.
The ruling party put its foot down Wednesday, vowing to drive out "violence and
illegality" from the Assembly.
"We have tolerated their (DLP's) behavior, regarding it as an expression of their
opinion, but will no longer do that. Time is running out on us," GNP whip Hong
Joon-pyo told party members. "The Assembly speaker must use his authority to stop
the use of physical force in the parliament."
President Lee Myung-bak's conservative party is also moving to promptly ratify
the free trade agreement (FTA) with Washington, adding to the tension. Opposition
parties are against speeding up approval of the FTA, struck in June last year,
citing uncertainties in the U.S. legislature and President-elect Barack Obama's
skepticism toward the deal.
"We are trying our best to get the job done in time," Won Hye-young, floor leader
of the main opposition DP, said during a morning radio interview. "Many lawmakers
have been reviewing the budget till dawn."
The extraordinary parliamentary session will run through Jan. 8.
hayney@yna.co.kr
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