Rival parties on Thursday refused to budge over next year’s proposed budget as they continued to wrangle over contentious issues ranging from preschool subsidies and an investigation into the four-river refurbishment project implemented by the previous administration.

Amid an intensifying bipartisan fight, President Park Geun-hye met with senior governing Saenuri Party officials at Cheong Wa Dae in the afternoon and urged them to pass next year’s spending plan.

The government submitted a 376 trillion won ($336 billion) budget for next year, up 5.7 percent from this year. By law, the National Assembly is required to pass the budget bill by the Dec. 2 deadline.

Members of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy were also invited but declined to attend, saying the meeting would be meaningless.

The president also called for swift passage of FTA bills and other reform bills aimed at revitalizing the nation’s sluggish economy.

“Passing pending legislation will be very important. The various FTAs sitting in the National Assembly and the (public officials’) pension reforms will create a foundation from which we can kick-start our economy,” Park said.

A complex web of politically sensitive issues, however, threatened to ransack the president’s wishes to finish legislating important bills in a timely fashion.

With less than 10 days until the deadline, the budget battle is likely to further deepen. Saenuri Party chairman Rep. Kim Moo-sung threatened to unilaterally pass the budget by majority rule. The governing party holds 158 of the parliament’s 300 seats. Saenuri floor leader Rep. Lee Wan-koo backed the threat by saying the budget would be passed “no matter what” by Dec. 2.

The rival parties have been locking horns over how to pay off government subsidies to preschools nationwide. NPAD officials have been calling for the central government to pay the funds as a part of the budget, while Saenuri lawmakers have demanded issuing fresh municipal bonds. The universal free child care program is one of President Park’s major welfare pledges.

NPAD lawmakers have been also demanding parliamentary investigations into former President Lee Myung-bak for allegedly leading reckless public spending sprees that have left public coffers empty. The governing party, however, has been lukewarm to the suggestions. Any investigation is likely to delay the parliamentary budget review process while incumbent Saenuri officials, such as Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan who served under Lee, are also likely to be affected.

NPAD officials have made efforts to link their accusations to next year’s budget in an ostensible effort to force the governing party to yield on the budget.

Saenuri officials are likely to also ask the opposition to cooperate on controversial reforms to pensions for retired civil servants, another budget-related proposal that has been a source of interparty warfare.

The governing party’s calls to raise tobacco taxes and the national residential poll tax have been met with passionate cries of foul play from the NPAD, which says the increased levies would hurt low-income earners the most.

Main opposition officials have instead demanded hikes in corporate taxes, a move the Saenuri Party opposes, citing worries of an economic downturn.

By Jeong Hunny (hj257@heraldcorp.com)