Seoul court clears way to hold free lunch vote

A Seoul court on Tuesday rejected a request by opposition parties and civic activists to suspend a referendum on free school meals, clearing the way for the Seoul Metropolitan Government to hold the vote as scheduled. The local government is set to hold the referendum among Seoul residents next Wednesday to decide whether the city should proceed with its free school lunch program. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has pitted himself against a decision made by the city council, controlled by the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), last December, to provide free lunches to all elementary school students starting this year and all middle-school students from 2012, declaring a war against "welfare populism." Last month, however, a dozen former opposition lawmakers and civil rights activists protesting the poll requested the Seoul Administrative Court to suspend the implementation of the vote. They claimed the referendum has legal and procedural problems. Dismissing their request, the administrative court ruled that the referendum should go ahead as scheduled since it may serve as a legal barometer of public opinion about the municipal policy. "The referendum could be seen as aimed at protecting city residents' interests by giving them rights to vote on a regional government's decision, which could be made against their will," the court record said. The court also cleared legal controversies raised by the complaints regarding the administrative procedure for adopting the referendum, giving the city government legal ground to hold the vote later this month. The free lunch program has been a key welfare issue that has driven a wedge between Oh and the left-leaning Seoul city council. It also represents a widening policy gap between the ruling and the opposition parties, which is willing to spend more of the budget on welfare programs ahead of next year's presidential and parliamentary elections. While the results from the poll remain uncertain, more legal wrangling about the free lunch programs and strong opposition by the DP are expected to continue until the poll is conducted.