Assembly’s trade panel chief offers to resign over US FTA
Korea Times | 11-24-2011
Assembly’s trade panel chief offers to resign over US FTA
The chairman of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, trade and unification offered to resign Thursday, two days after his ruling party forced through a free trade agreement with the United States amid tear gas and physical scuffles.
Rep. Nam Kyung-pil of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) came under attack after his efforts to pass the trade pact in bipartisan agreement ended in failure, with Tuesday’s vote held in chaotic conditions.
"As the South Korea-U.S. FTA was ratified, I will step down from the trade committee chairman today," said Nam, a member of his party’s top decision-making body. "I had hoped to make an advanced, beautiful parliament that works on dialogue and negotiations in the process of ratification, but my wish ended up unfulfilled. My efforts were insufficient."
Nam was among 151 lawmakers who voted for the trade pact in a snap parliamentary session on Tuesday, which turned into chaos after an opposition party legislator detonated a tear gas bomb inside the main chamber to block the floor vote.
The four-term lawmaker and 21 other GNP lawmakers had vowed to give up their candidacy in the next election if the long-pending trade pact was passed accompanied by physical clashes, in a pledge not to repeat ugly scenes of the past when passing contentious bills involved violence.
South Korea holds its parliamentary election and presidential vote in April and December of next year, respectively. It will be the first time in 20 years that the two major polls are held in the same year.
Following the ruling party’s unilateral passage of the bill, lawmakers of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) have staged a sit-in protest inside the chamber and boycotted all parliamentary sessions in a desperate attempt to block the ruling party from railroading next year’s budget bill.
The National Assembly remained in gridlock with the deadline for next year’s budget bill less than 10 days away as opposition lawmakers continued their protest Thursday, demanding nullification of the trade pact.
In a bid to appease discontent, GNP floor leader Hwang Woo-yea said his party will put more effort into providing additional safeguards for the agriculture and fisheries sectors, as well as for small businesses and retailers that could be affected by lowered trade barriers.
"If needed, we will form a special parliamentary committee to conduct a review on (follow-up measures)," Hwang said in a senior meeting. (Yonhap)
