S Korea: FM Choi to urge Prez to veto Bill ending automatic forwarding of budget proposal

Seoul, Nov 28 (IANS) South Korean Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok said on Thursday he will urge President Yoon Suk Yeol to veto a revision Bill that would abolish the automatic forwarding of the government's budget proposal to the plenary session if a bipartisan agreement is not reached by the deadline.

Earlier in the day, the Opposition-controlled National Assembly passed the revision to the National Assembly Act that eliminates the system of automatically forwarding the government's budget proposal and related Bills when they fail to pass through parliamentary standing committees by November 30, Yonhap news agency reported.

"If the system is abolished, the parliamentary standing committees responsible for budget reviews will no longer face deadlines, significantly increasing the likelihood of missing the constitutional deadline of December 2," Choi said during a Press briefing.

The statutory deadline for approving the national budget is December 2, but the National Assembly has managed to meet it only twice in the past two decades. Currently, rival parties are locked in a standoff over the government's spending plan for next year, raising concerns about yet another failure to meet the deadline.

"As the minister in charge, I deeply regret the unilateral handling of this legislative amendment," Choi said, adding that he would ask the President to exercise his constitutional authority to veto the revision.

The automatic forwarding provision was introduced in 2014 to prevent legislative gridlock, Choi noted.

Since taking office in May 2022, Yoon has exercised his veto power 12 times, with a total of 25 Bills rejected amid standoffs against the Opposition-controlled National Assembly.

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