Assembly's ugly clash

Rival parties should meet half way

The National Assembly is again locked in an ugly brawl over some key reform bills. Over the weekend, the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) staged a massive rally at Gwanghwamun square in central Seoul and called for public support to fight what it called the "authoritarian rule" of the Moon Jaein administration.

LKP Chairman Hwang Kyoahn led the rally in front of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts. Hwang, who served as justice minister and prime minister under the previous Park Geunhye administration, has continued to label the Moon administration as a "leftist government." Last week, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and other minor parties agreed to fast-track some reform bills. The LKP has been adamantly against the move, calling it an attempt by the Moon administration to lengthen "leftist rule."

The DPK, the Justice Party, the Party for Democracy and Peace (PDP) and the Bareunmirae Party (BMP) reached a tentative agreement last week to push for the passage of bills to reform the Election Law, including an adjustment in the number of proportional representation seats at the National Assembly, and to establish an agency to investigate corruption and other wrongdoings by high-ranking government officials.

The parties are seeking to put the bills on a fast-track system adopted in 2012 to allow a swift passage of controversial bills regardless of prolonged conflict among parties. The main opposition LKP is against fast-tracking the bills and took to the streets near Cheong Wa Dae at the weekend to make their case.

The ruling party has behaved somewhat inadequately in the process of seeking to speed the passage of the bills because it has done so without proper consultation with the opposition. But many people are unhappy with the overly hostile behavior of the LKP lawmakers, who have been staging sit-ins at the National Assembly since last week.

Many people also do not sympathize with the anti-government slogans used by the LKP chairman and his colleagues to protest against the Moon administration ― the slogans were often used at the height of authoritarian rule in the 1970s and 80s. The Moon administration has many shortcomings, but it is wrong to label the administration as "leftist" and "authoritarian."

The main opposition needs to keep in mind that it is the people's demand to raise transparency among high-ranking government officials. This was a key objective of the Moon administration, and many people support his anti-corruption drive, particularly after the disastrous presidency of his predecessor Park, who was impeached amid a massive corruption scandal. Therefore, the LKP's fervent resistance to the reform bills can be seen as a refusal to respond to the people's timely demands.

The people will no longer tolerate the continued violent behavior from the LKP. As the biggest parties, the DPK and the LKP should behave sensibly and meet half way. The LKP should stop its boycott of Assembly and its violent rallies and negotiate with the ruling party to end the parliamentary clash swiftly.