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The paralyzed National Assembly is likely to go back to work soon, as the opposition Grand National Party (GNP) decided to put a special counsel bill to a re-vote Thursday. The National Assembly has been effectively shut down since November 26 after President Roh said he would veto the bill to name an independent counsel to investigate corruption allegations surrounding his former aides.
Hong Sa-duk, the floor leader of the GNP, said that if the party¡¯s lawmakers agree on a re-vote on the bill at the general meeting on Wednesday, the party would pass the bill at a plenary session of the National Assembly on Thursday.
The GNP leadership plans to ask its legislators to attend the session, as the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) and the United Liberal Democrats (ULD) have already said they would back the bill and the public is demanding action in the National Assembly, Hong said.
The MDP lawmakers unanimously agreed Tuesday on a re-vote on the bill. A spokesman of the party, Kim Sung-soon, said that no legislator has opposed a re-vote.
The budget for next year had to be passed by Tuesday; even if the Assembly were normalized, it is unclear whether the budget and other bills to be discussed within the period of this session could be passed by the December 9 deadline. Lee Kang-doo, of the GNP¡¯s policy committee, said that the budget for next year would be dealt with by the end of the session, because the lawmakers have continued to deliberate the budget among themselves outside the Assembly.
(Kwon Dae-yul, dykwon@chosun.com )
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