Parties are preparing for the imminent negotiations on organizing the 19th National Assembly. At the same time, they are putting out feelers to get an idea of each other’s negotiating stance.

Because so much is at stake ahead of the December presidential election, concerns are voiced in the political community that the new National Assembly may follow the footsteps of the outgoing one, whose organization it took 89 days to complete.

The new National Assembly, which starts its term on May 30 as stipulated by the law on congressional operations, is set to open its first session on June 5. If past experience is any guide, however, the first session will most likely be delayed for an unknown length of time. The 18th National Assembly had its first session 42 days behind schedule.

It goes without saying that the ruling Saenuri Party, which won a majority of seats in the April 11 elections with a razor-thin margin, will take the chairmanships of most of the 18 standing committees. But at stake is which party will put what coveted standing committees under its control.

Ahead of the upcoming presidential election, the opposition Democratic United Party is undoubtedly eager to endear itself to the electorate by launching an offensive against President Lee Myung-bak’s administration. As such, it needs to put relevant committees under its control if it wishes to use them to launch attacks. For defense purposes, the ruling party needs to chair certain committees as well.

One of them is the legislation and judiciary committee, where the opposition party wishes to deal with corruption and other scandals involving Lee’s aides and the reform of the prosecutors’ office which it believes is biased in favor of the ruling party. The opposition party will undoubtedly seek to hold hearings on the scandals and, if necessary, push for investigations into them by an independent counsel at the committee.

Given their adversarial relationship, it is only natural for the ruling and opposition parties to fight fiercely against each other. But the struggle must be waged under the rules established by the law on the operation of the National Assembly. The electorate will not show tolerance if, for instance, the first session faces the same delays it did four years ago.