Assembly passes US trade pact  |
|
|
Rep. Kim Sun-dong of the minor opposition Democratic Labor Party lets off a tear gas canister toward the speaker's seat in the main hall of the National Assembly to protest the move to pass a free trade agreement with the United States. Shortly after the commotion, deputy speaker Chung Ui-hwa put the trade pact to a vote in a close-door session, which passed the long-stalled trade deal.
/ Courtesy of No Cut News
|
GNP lawmakers take over main hall to railroad FTA
By Chung Min-uck
The National Assembly approved the long-stalled free trade deal with the United States during a plenary session Tuesday.
The ruling Grand National Party (GNP) railroaded the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (KORUS FTA) with support from 151 lawmakers in the session with an attendance of 170. Seven lawmakers voted against the bill, while 12 abstained. The Assembly also approved 14 related bills, which needed to be ratified for the effectuation of the trade pact.
Extreme confrontation is now expected on the political landscape, as opposition parties fiercely resisting ratification have now declared an all out struggle against the ruling party and President Lee Myung-bak.
“We will start a campaign for the nullification of the KORUS FTA,”said Rep. Sohn Hak-kyu, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), right after the plenary session ended.
With the passage of the trade deal and related bills through the Assembly, the Korean and U.S. governments are scheduled to exchange letters to confirm when the trade pact will go into effect.
If there is no fixed date in the letters, the trade pact will become valid after 60 days.
“We will try our best to ensure the KORUS FTA takes effect on Jan. 1, 2011 as scheduled,”said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in a statement.
GNP lawmakers occupied the National Assembly’s main hall in order to ram through the free trade deal amid vehement protests from the opposition.
Around 130 GNP lawmakers moved to the main hall right after ending a general meeting around 3:30 p.m. Assembly speaker Park Hee-tae soon requested the lawmakers to complete their reviews on the trade bill by 4 p.m., using his authority to forward the bill straight to a vote on the floor.
Hearing the GNP’s attempt to railroad the bill, over 40 members of the opposition parties came to the main hall to physically block the passage of the bill. While engaging in a physical scuffle, Rep. Kim Sun-dong, a member of the minor opposition Democratic Labor Party, set off a tear gas canister in the main hall. He was taken away by parliamentary security.
In the Assembly, the ruling party has a comfortable majority of 169 out of 295 seats which would have allowed it to unilaterally ratify the bill, but it had been unable to push for the ratification as opposition party members occupied the foreign affairs and trade committee room.
Assembly speaker Park, who had supported holding bipartisan talks at the standing committee, recently changed his position after the DP refused President Lee Myung-bak’s compromise of seeking negotiations on the investor-state dispute (ISD) settlement clause after the deal was ratified.
The GNP and the opposition parties have been in conflict over the ISD clause which the oppositions claim would let American companies bypass domestic policies by bringing cases to international courts.
Many moderate GNP lawmakers who had been seeking a compromise with the opposition parties also turned their back after seeing the DP’s response.
Swift ratification of the KORUS FTA by the U.S. Congress in early October prompted the government and the GNP to follow suit. But they failed due to fierce objections from lawmakers from the opposition parties who called for implementation of preventive measures and the removal of the so-called poisonous clauses that could negatively affect domestic industries after the pact takes effect. Since then the Assembly had been locked in an impasse due to the partisan battle including minor physical confrontations.
The agreement was originally signed in 2007 and amended last December at the request of Washington.
|
|
한미FTA 국회 통과..野 강력반발 정국경색
170명 참석해 찬성 151명, 반대 7명, 기권 12명
최루탄 터지고 물리적충돌..본회의 비공개 진행 논란
한나라당이 22일 오후 국회 본회의를 열어 한미FTA(자유무역협정) 비준안을 전격 처리해 야당이 강력 반발하고 있다.
특히 야당이 향후 국회 일정을 보이콧할 가능성도 배제할 수 없어 새해 예산안 심사가 차질을 빚는 등 정국경색이 불가피할 전망이다.
한나라당은 이날 오후 민주당과 민주노동당 등 야당 의원들의 강력 저지 속에 비준안을 직권상정, 표결에 부쳐 재적의원 295명중 170명이 참석한 가운데 찬성 151명, 반대 7명, 기권 12명으로 비준안을 통과시켰다.
비준안 표결에는 한나라당 박근혜 전 대표와 함께 자유선진당 7명, 미래희망연대 2명도 참석했다.
이와 함께 한나라당은 한미FTA 14개 이행법안도 처리했다.
한미FTA 비준안이 통과된 것은 지난 2007년 6월30일 양국간 공식 서명 이후 4년 4개월 만이며, 재협상을 거쳐 지난 6월3일 국회에 제출된 이후 5개월 반 만이다.
비준안 통과과정에서 야당 의원들이 강력 저지에 나서면서 몸싸움 등 물리적 충돌이 빚어졌다.
특히 민노당 김선동 의원이 본회의장내 의원 발언대에서 최루탄을 터뜨리고 의장석을 향해 최루가루까지 뿌려 본회의장이 한때 아수라장으로 변했다.
본회의장에서 최루탄이 터진 것인 이번이 처음으로, 김 의원은 한때 경위들에 의해 격리조치됐다.
여당은 전날 지도부 회의를 거쳐 `22일 표결처리' 방침을 확정했으며, 이날 오전 한나라당 황우여, 민주당 김진표 원내대표 간의 최종 협상이 결렬되자 전격적으로 비준안 단독처리를 감행한 것으로 알려졌다.
한나라당은 이날 오후 정책의총이 끝난 직후 본회의장으로 이동했으며, 국회 사무처는 한나라당의 요청에 따라 본회의장 문을 열어준 것으로 알려졌다
이에 앞서 박희태 국회의장은 "오후 4시까지 비준안을 심사해 달라"며 직권상정을 위한 심사기일을 지정한 뒤 사회권을 정의화 국회부의장에 넘겼고, 정 부의장은 질서유지권과 경호권이 발동된 상황에서 비준안을 직권상정해 표결처리했다.
민주당과 민노당 등 야당 의원들은 현재 국민을 무시한 `날치기 처리'라고 강력 반발하고 있다. 민노당 일부 의원들은 현재 비준안 강행처리에 항의하기 위해 의장석 앞에서 연좌농성을 벌이고 있다.
아울러 야당은 한나라당이 본회의를 비공개로 진행한 것을 두고 "있을 수 없는 취재 제한"이라고 강력 비판하고 있다.
한나라당은 비준안 표결에 앞서 `본회의 비공개'에 대한 표결을 거쳐 비공개를 결정해 논란이 일고 있다. (연합)
|
|
muchung@koreatimes.co.k |
|
