Lee orders formation of provisional budget amid parliamentary dispute

SEOUL, Dec. 24 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday ordered his
government to form a provisional budget for next year as squabbling in the
National Assembly looked set to sink any chances of the government's budget being
passed before year's end.
The provisional budget, if formed, will be the first of its kind since the system
was introduced in 1960 to allow continued operations and spending by the
government in the event that the National Assembly fails to endorse the budget in
time.
Under the system, the government is allowed to spend within the range of its
budget for the previous year, meaning it cannot launch any new projects.
The order came two weeks after the National Assembly missed its initial deadline
to vote on the budget bill during its 100-day regular session that ended Dec. 9.
The parliament is again in session for an extraordinary sitting since Dec. 10,
but the main opposition Democratic Party is continuing to block any serious
deliberation even by parliamentary committees while demanding the halt of a
controversial government project to restore the country's four major rivers.
Lee noted the government will not be able to effectively fight economic
difficulties still facing the country under such a system and that the move could
jeopardize the country's nascent economic recovery.
"It will be difficult for us to operate as a normal government with a provisional
budget. That is why we must thoroughly review each and every problem that might
arise in case the budget bill does not pass the National Assembly," the president
said in a weekly meeting of an emergency economic steering committee, according
to his spokesman Park Sun-kyoo.
"We must also consider the people, at least as a way to share their sufferings,
because they are the ones who will suffer the most if government spending is not
implemented in time," Lee was quoted as saying.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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