Referendum on Constitutional amendment appears unlikely in June
- 6 years ago
6월 개헌 사실상 무산…여야 국회정상화•특검법안 충돌
In the domestic political arena...
The people may not be able to vote on amending the Constitution this June.
Rival parties appear far from completing the revision of the national referendum act,... which has to be completed by today... in order for the public to be a part of that change during the upcoming local elections.
Kim Min-ji has the latest from the national assembly.
A dark cloud is cast over the fate of the country's Constitutional amendment.
For a public vote to take place alongside local elections in June as the government hopes,... rival lawmakers needed to pass a revision to the National Referendum Act by Monday,... to leave time for other necessary legal procedures.
The referendum law has to be changed because the existing version was ruled unconstitutional in 2014... for limiting the voting rights of Koreans overseas,... and as such it remains null and void.
But the National Assembly has been at a standstill for the past three weeks -- due to a set of disputed bills,... as well as an online opinion rigging scandal involving a blogger with ties to a ruling party lawmaker.
"To keep our promise with the public to hold a referendum in June, we have to pass the revised referendum act. We can't link it to other issues. If the opposition doesn't cooperate, they lose the opportunity to amend the Constitution for the first time in 31 years,... and break the promise made to the public.... and will become the faction that dealt with the issue by political scheming."
To get things moving in parliament,... opposition parties have demanded the ruling Democratic Party of Korea accept their proposal for an independent probe into the opinion rigging scandal, on top of the ongoing police investigation.
The scandal centers around a blogger -- using the name "druking" -- who is suspected of using a computer program to promote online public opinions critical of the government.
The suspect initially said that he and some others wanted to make it look as if the conservatives were behind it... but took a grudge against ruling party lawmaker Kim Kyoung-soo after he turned down job requests.
"A few days back, even lawmaker Kim and the presidential office said they were willing to accept our proposal for an independent probe. But the ruling party has been going back and forth on its stance... and now it appears that they will keep the issue shadowed by the inter-Korean summit. That is a disgrace,... and is an act of disregarding the public."
Now with the referendum on Constitutional amendment unlikely in June,... there are three possible scenarios. One is that rival parties will go on to vote on the president's proposal by the legal time frame's deadline, May 24th,... second, they can craft a proposal of their own and vote on it,... or lastly, the president can take back his version.
But whichever option is taken,... the blame game in the National Assembly is expected to intensify,... with part
In the domestic political arena...
The people may not be able to vote on amending the Constitution this June.
Rival parties appear far from completing the revision of the national referendum act,... which has to be completed by today... in order for the public to be a part of that change during the upcoming local elections.
Kim Min-ji has the latest from the national assembly.
A dark cloud is cast over the fate of the country's Constitutional amendment.
For a public vote to take place alongside local elections in June as the government hopes,... rival lawmakers needed to pass a revision to the National Referendum Act by Monday,... to leave time for other necessary legal procedures.
The referendum law has to be changed because the existing version was ruled unconstitutional in 2014... for limiting the voting rights of Koreans overseas,... and as such it remains null and void.
But the National Assembly has been at a standstill for the past three weeks -- due to a set of disputed bills,... as well as an online opinion rigging scandal involving a blogger with ties to a ruling party lawmaker.
"To keep our promise with the public to hold a referendum in June, we have to pass the revised referendum act. We can't link it to other issues. If the opposition doesn't cooperate, they lose the opportunity to amend the Constitution for the first time in 31 years,... and break the promise made to the public.... and will become the faction that dealt with the issue by political scheming."
To get things moving in parliament,... opposition parties have demanded the ruling Democratic Party of Korea accept their proposal for an independent probe into the opinion rigging scandal, on top of the ongoing police investigation.
The scandal centers around a blogger -- using the name "druking" -- who is suspected of using a computer program to promote online public opinions critical of the government.
The suspect initially said that he and some others wanted to make it look as if the conservatives were behind it... but took a grudge against ruling party lawmaker Kim Kyoung-soo after he turned down job requests.
"A few days back, even lawmaker Kim and the presidential office said they were willing to accept our proposal for an independent probe. But the ruling party has been going back and forth on its stance... and now it appears that they will keep the issue shadowed by the inter-Korean summit. That is a disgrace,... and is an act of disregarding the public."
Now with the referendum on Constitutional amendment unlikely in June,... there are three possible scenarios. One is that rival parties will go on to vote on the president's proposal by the legal time frame's deadline, May 24th,... second, they can craft a proposal of their own and vote on it,... or lastly, the president can take back his version.
But whichever option is taken,... the blame game in the National Assembly is expected to intensify,... with part