It is pointed out that the government’s blood tax is not properly enforced due to the lack of sufficient deliberation period and additional budgets amid the ruling and opposition parties. Considering the March National Assembly review procedure for the first supplementary draft this year, a huge budget of over 19 trillion won must be deliberated within two weeks or so. It is pointed out that the ruling ruling party, which intends to pay disaster subsidies prior to the April by-election, is encouraging additional deliberation with an unreasonable goal setting.
In the midst of this, in March, the extraordinary National Assembly had a mammoth-level issue of the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) speculation suspicion, and in a cluttered atmosphere for each of the standing committees of the National Assembly, deliberation on the additional review was not properly conducted, and the credit has now been passed on to the Special Committee on Budget and Settlement.
On the 14th, the Maeil Economic Daily surveyed the review period of the supplementary bills registered in the National Assembly bill information system, and found that it took an average of 16.5 days for the first to fourth supplementary bills in 2020. Even if the 1st supplementary budget for 2021, which is scheduled to be processed on the 24th, is added, it is only 17.2 days on average.
Considering that it took an average of 38.8 days for additional review from 1988 to 2019, when the six republics were established, this is a decrease of about 60% over the past year or so. The average screening period of former President Doo-Hwan Chun (1980-1987), when the function of the National Assembly was weak due to military dictatorship, was 21.4 days, which is longer than the recent one. At that time, the National Assembly could not raise any objections against the bills submitted by the government at the request of the president, but passed it as it was, and gained the stigma of the Ministry of Civil Justice. The Ministry of Justice is a term that has been relegated to the situation where the National Assembly is subjugated to the administration, and is downgraded like a government department.
The budget proposal is usually submitted to the National Assembly after a resolution at the government’s state council at the beginning of the week.
Since the Standing Committee, Preliminary Committee, and Plenary Meeting are held at intervals of 1 to 2 days, if calculated by the weekend, no matter how fast it is processed, it inevitably takes about two weeks. Nevertheless, the reason why the National Assembly’s additional review function has become poor is that the logic that the disaster support fund should be quickly organized and paid in response to the Corona 19 crisis is prioritized. It is the reason that it is unavoidable to face an unprecedented crisis, and voices are also concerned about whether the function will be able to return to its original state after the Corona 19 incident has subsided.
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