PPP policy chief Im Ja-ja says she hopes the meeting will mark 'a new starting point for restoring dialogue and compromise'
The ruling and opposition parties will hold a joint policy committee leadership meeting Tuesday, the opening day of the regular legislative session, to discuss ways to advance livelihood-related bills. The two sides are expected to prioritize legislation where disagreements are limited and work toward reviving a stalled bipartisan economic consultative body.
Im Ja-ja, the People Power Party's policy committee chairwoman, said at a supreme council meeting Monday that the PPP and the Democratic Party of Korea would hold a policy consultation meeting Tuesday that would also serve as a formal introduction between the two sides' policy leadership. "I hope this meeting will become a new starting point for restoring the politics of dialogue and compromise," she said, urging the Democratic Party to engage in a "forward-looking and responsible manner."
Im called on both parties to use the meeting as an opportunity to identify livelihood legislation that directly affects people's lives and commands cross-party support, and to fast-track such bills as the top priority. On contested bills, she said the parties should work toward "rational conclusions through sufficient deliberation and compromise," and added that even laws already in effect should be "boldly revised and supplemented" if found to cause problems on the ground or inconvenience to the public.
Im had proposed at the supreme council meeting last Tuesday that the two parties first form a working-level consultative body between their policy committee chairs to put pressing livelihood issues on the table, then use that as a foundation to gradually revive the suspended bipartisan livelihood-economy consultative body.
From the Democratic Party, Policy Committee Chairman Kwon Chil-seung, Senior Vice Chairman Heo Young, Standing Vice Chairman Min Byeong-deok, and lawmakers Heo Seong-mu and Park Hee-seung will attend Tuesday morning's meeting.
The PPP delegation will include Im and policy vice chairpersons Kim Mi-ae, Kim Eun-hye and Park Soo-young.
mp1256@heraldcorp.com
