Lee Jae-myung "People Power Party keeps stalling"
Yoon Jae-ok "'Yoon Seok-yeol' projects face 'blind cuts'"
Standoff... Only 2014 and 2020 deadlines met
The ruling and opposition parties have once again entered 'closed-door negotiations' over next year's government budget proposal, which amounts to 656.9 trillion won. With only six days left before the legal deadline for the National Assembly to process the budget proposal for next year (December 2), it is expected that this year too the deadline will be significantly missed as the parties fail to narrow their differences over contentious budget items.
The National Assembly's Special Committee on Budget and Accounts will operate a ‘small subcommittee’ (a subcommittee within the Budget Subcommittee) from the 27th to the 30th, involving only the Budget Subcommittee chair and the floor leaders of the People Power Party and the Democratic Party of Korea, to engage in last-minute negotiations on next year’s budget proposal. Because the small subcommittee involves only a few members to discuss and decide on the budget, negotiations are easier; however, since it is not based on the National Assembly Act and is held behind closed doors as a principle, it faces criticism as 'closed-door consultations.'
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 27th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
From the 13th to the 24th, during nine days of budget subcommittee meetings, the ruling and opposition parties reviewed 663 projects across 60 ministries under the jurisdiction of 16 standing committees and agreed to cut 610 billion won from 277 projects. However, they failed to reach an agreement on contentious issues such as special activity expenses and nuclear power versus renewable energy. If negotiations between the parties fail on these contentious issues that have reached the small subcommittee stage, the original government proposal will be automatically submitted to the plenary session on the 1st according to the National Assembly Act. In preparation for this scenario, the Democratic Party has indicated its intention to push forward with its own revised budget plan that cuts major project budgets from the government proposal. This is a pressure tactic by the government and ruling party to prevent the original government budget from passing after the legal deadline.
Lee Jae-myung, the party leader, said at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly that morning, "The People Power Party is continuously stalling when the Democratic Party requests discussions to increase the livelihood budget," and added, "The Democratic Party will definitely push through the five major future budgets and five major livelihood budgets promised to the people." The Democratic Party is demanding the restoration of the ten major budgets cut by the government, including ▲R&D budget ▲RE100 renewable energy ▲20,000 won child allowance for On-dongne elementary school care ▲Youth job budget for Tomorrow Filling Deduction ▲Saemangeum budget ▲local love gift certificates ▲30,000 won youth pass ▲nursing hospital care fees ▲small business gas and electricity fees ▲support for victims of jeonse fraud.
Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 27th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
On the other hand, the People Power Party has stated that if no agreement on the budget proposal is reached between the ruling and opposition parties, they cannot agree to hold plenary sessions on the 30th of this month and the 1st of next month. This is because they cannot agree to such a schedule in order to block the processing of special investigation laws, including the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation case involving First Lady Kim Keon-hee, which the Democratic Party is pushing for, as well as the impeachment motion against Broadcasting and Communications Commission Chairman Lee Dong-kwan. In this case, it is highly likely that next year’s budget proposal will be processed after the legal deadline.
Yoon Jae-ok, the floor leader, criticized at the morning Supreme Council meeting, "The Democratic Party is conducting arbitrary budget reviews, blindly cutting any project with the name 'Yoon Seok-yeol' attached, while even risking unilateral processing for projects bearing their own party leader’s name," and added, "This reflects a presidential election refusal mindset aiming to establish an Lee Jae-myung government in the National Assembly beyond the role of the opposition party."
He also emphasized, "Even if the budget is revised, the government’s right to organize the budget must be respected at a minimum, and attempts to bring unreasonable special investigation laws and impeachment motions to the plenary session must stop." With the impeachment issue overlapping with budget review, it is uncertain whether the legal deadline for budget processing can be met this year. Since the passage of the National Assembly Innovation Act in 2014, the ruling and opposition parties have only met the legal deadline for budget processing twice, in 2014 and 2020.
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