Ruling party urges assembly speaker to schedule vote on highly contested bills

여, 정의장 의사일정 확정해달라+야, 노동개악법, 선거법 인질극 중단 촉구 The country′s two main rival parties appear no closer to a compromise on a number of long－stalled bills. So with a number of deadlines on the horizon，... the ruling party has made its move. Ji Myung－kil has the details. The ruling Saenuri Party is urging Assembly Speaker Chung Ui－hwa to bypass the opposition and use his authority to bring a list of long－pending labor and economy bills up for a vote without bipartisan consent. ″I would sincerely ask the assembly speaker to use his authority to set up the parliamentary schedule， including a date for the next plenary session. We were unable to fix a new schedule due to the opposition′s uncooperative manner.″ The floor leader stressed that under Article 76 of the National Assembly Law... lawmakers have a duty to end legislative paralysis，... and said this is the last chance to bring the bills to the floor before a parliamentary election in April. The speaker refused， saying there were no legal grounds for him to do so. The main opposition Minjoo Party accused the ruling party of trying to railroad the bills， including one on redrawing the nation′s electoral map. ″The ruling party says it′s important to pass the redistricting bill quickly， as the general election is nearing. But they also say they can′t pass that bill without tying it to five labor reform bills. They′ve taken the redistricting bill hostage.″ Despite a series of talks stretching over the past year， the rival parties have failed to reach agreement on a new electoral map due to differences over the number of proportional representatives. The old electoral map expired on December 31st following a Constitutional Court ruling that said a new one was called for due to population changes. Now， with the election in April and the end of the current parliamentary term in May fast approaching， there is growing concern that lawmakers will have difficulty getting the job done， as many will soon be focused on their re－election campaigns. Ji Myung－kil， Arirang News. Visit ‘Arirang News’ Official Pages Facebook(NEWS):   / newsarirang   Homepage: http://www.arirang.com Facebook:   / arirangtv   Twitter:   / arirangworld   Instagram:   / arirangworld