President Yoon Suk Yeol is expected to use his veto power this week against a contentious bill requiring government purchase of surplus rice, an official said Monday, in what would be his first veto of a bill since he took office.
A veto has been widely expected after the opposition-controlled National Assembly passed a revision to the Grain Management Act on March 23, requiring the government to buy excess rice if production exceeds estimated demand by 3-5 percent, or if prices fall by 5-8 percent or more compared with the previous year.
Yoon is expected to exercise his veto by approving a request for reconsideration, which will be tabled during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday.
He will personally preside over the meeting.
The president has repeatedly voiced his objections to the bill, saying it would lead to a waste of government resources and the money should instead be invested in developing farming villages.
Since its passage, Yoon has instructed the government to collect the opinions of relevant parties, including farmers' associations.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho and Agriculture Minister Chung Hwang-keun have advised him to veto the bill.
"Related preparations are under way based on the judgment that there is no reason to sit on the bill any longer," a presidential official told Yonhap News Agency.
If a bill is sent back to the National Assembly, in order to pass again, it must win two-thirds approval in a vote by a majority of lawmakers.
The ruling People Power Party hold more than a third of the seats in the National Assembly, making it unlikely the bill will pass again.
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) has vowed to introduce additional, similar bills in the event the president exercises his veto.
On Monday, farmers and some DP lawmakers, including Reps. Lee Won-taeg and Shin Jeong-hoon belonging to the parliamentary agriculture committee, staged a head-shaving protest at the National Assembly, urging Yoon to promulgate the bill at Tuesday's Cabinet meeting.
"We will make sure to pass the grain price normalization bill through a lawful process," DP floor leader Park Hong-keun said at the rally, accusing the Yoon administration of plunging the grain industry into crisis.
The DP has argued the bill can protect farmers and stabilize rice prices, as rice demand has been on a steady decline due mainly to changes in diet and eating habits.
But critics say the legislation is a short-sighted populist policy aimed at wooing farmer voters ahead of next year's general elections, saying the measure would end up worsening overproduction and causing rice prices to fall further.
Source: Yonhap News Agency