Ahn Cheol-soo: "Ruling Party's Proposal is 'Fiscal Ruin and Immoral 3 Laws'... Worse than Last Year's Disaster Relief Fund"

Representative Ahn strongly criticizes the Loss Compensation Act, Profit Sharing Act, and Social Solidarity Fund Act at the 71st Supreme Council Meeting

Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 25th. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kum Bo-ryeong] Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, criticized the ruling party’s proposed 'Loss Compensation Act, Profit Sharing Act, and Social Solidarity Fund Act' as the 'Three Laws of Fiscal Ruin' and the 'Three Laws of Immorality.' Instead, he proposed establishing a national public deliberation body in the National Assembly to discuss compensation for damages caused by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

On the morning of the 25th, at the 71st Supreme Council meeting held at the main building of the National Assembly, Ahn Cheol-soo stated, "We will do our best to support compensation for those who have suffered damage due to the national disaster," and added, "We will also block shameless attempts to exploit the national disaster to maintain their own power."

In particular, Ahn pointed out the recently announced Loss Compensation Act, Profit Sharing Act, and Social Solidarity Fund Act by the ruling party, saying, "Unlike disaster relief funds that are provided only when necessary, if these laws pass, tens of trillions to over 100 trillion won in finances will be repeatedly required every year," and "One bill proposed by a certain ruling party lawmaker requires 24.7 trillion won monthly, which means using more than half of the national budget by borrowing."

He continued, "The ruling party’s populist card, brought up ahead of the April by-elections for Seoul and Busan mayors, is tens of times worse than the disaster relief funds floated before last April’s general election," adding, "It is an explicit declaration of election manipulation through government power and money."

Ahn also said, "In the past military regimes, fraudulent elections were conducted by twisting corporate arms to obtain black money used to buy laundry soap and rubber shoes, but this administration openly intends to do such things with taxes," and criticized, "The ruling party’s bills, which aim to win elections even if it means massive tax increases, burdening our children with enormous debt and ruining the country, can only be called the 'Three Laws of Fiscal Ruin,' the 'Three Laws of Money Politics,' the 'Three Laws of Tax Increase,' and the 'Three Laws of Immorality' that saddle our children with a yoke."

Ahn proposed to the president and the ruling government to create a public deliberation body in the National Assembly to discuss COVID-19 damage compensation. This means a national public deliberation body is needed to finalize the scale and method of support for compensation. He emphasized, "Discussions on compensation should not become a 'pop-up shop' that appears briefly during elections and then disappears," and "Representatives of political parties, government, civil society, businesses, taxpayers, and COVID-19 victims should gather in the National Assembly, the representative institution of the people, to properly discuss how much money will be spent and where."

Ahn’s idea is to form a 'Meeting of Parliamentary Party Leaders' to handle the establishment of the public deliberation body. He explained, "If the legislature, the representative of the people, only acts as a rubber stamp doing whatever the government orders in decisions that inevitably involve massive tax increases and national bond issuance, the meaning of the legislature’s existence will disappear," and "Through sufficient and in-depth discussions in the National Assembly, the scope and principles of the public burden must be agreed upon by consensus."