Lawmaker-elects are gearing up to seize the legislative lead with eye-catching and trailblazing bills when the 20th National Assembly begins its four-year term end-May.
Lawmaker-elect Lee Hye-hoon of the Saenuri Party has vowed to introduce a bill aiming to restrict the government from granting presidential pardon to convicted chaebol owners. Conglomerate leaders have mostly enjoyed the privilege and the release has was often been justified as a step to jumpstart the economy.
“Releasing them doesn’t help bring our economy back on track,” said Lee in elected in Seo-cho A district in Seoul. “If the business of a company falters just because a single man spends his time in prison, the company should be blamed for that,” she said.
The third-term lawmaker tentatively named the legislation as “anti-wheelchair” bill, referring to common scenes of indicted chaebol owners appearing in a patient’s outfit in a wheelchair hoping for lesser punishment.
From the main opposition camp, Rep. Woo Sang-ho of The Minjoo Party of Korea has pledged to introduce a bill designed to abolish the regulation mandating mobile phone users pay a “basic” fee of 10,000 won ($9) to the telecom carriers.
“The measure is necessary to reduce the burden on people’s livelihood,” said the lawmaker who will be serving his third term. Woo has coauthored a similar bill during the 19th Assembly, but has failed to get them passed due to opposition from the government and the ruling Saenuri Party.
CJ Group chairman Lee Jae-hyun showed up at the Seoul High Court in a wheelchair last December. Yonhap
With some Saenuri lawmakers-elect, such as Rep. Bae Duk-kwang, backing the move by pushing to halve the required payment, the businesses remained opposed to the move saying the payment is needed to finance their investment in telecom infrastructure.
Each party is also outlining bills to represent their policy identities.
The Saenuri Party has vowed to amend the law to support quantitative easing program, an initiative designed to aid corporate restructuring, by allowing the Bank of Korea to provide liquidity to policy lender Korea Development Bank.
The Minjoo Party has pledged to pass a bill to widen job opportunities for young people under the age of 34. The bill calls for companies with at least 300 employees and government agencies to fill at least 3 percent of their new employees with those aged 34 and under.
The People’s Party has announced that it would enact a law that restricts the revolving-door practice among former high-ranking government officials. The third biggest party has also pushed to amend the law aiming to boost venture business and regulate corporate monopolies.
The new legislative business will start on May 31. The first plenary session is set to commence June 7.
