Democratic Party "Depends on Ruling Party's Choice for a 'Plant Parliament'" vs People Power Party "Engaging in Parliamentary Dictatorship"
[Asia Economy Reporters Oh Ju-yeon and Geum Bo-ryeong] The ruling and opposition parties, facing difficulties in negotiating the organization of the National Assembly, continued their standoff over the convening of an extraordinary session on the 4th.
Sung Il-jong, Chairman of the Policy Committee of the People Power Party, is attending the floor countermeasure meeting held at the National Assembly on the 1st and delivering an opening remark. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@
On the 1st, the People Power Party strongly opposed the Democratic Party's plan to hold a plenary session next week alone to elect the Speaker of the National Assembly.
Seong Il-jong, the policy chief of the People Power Party, stated at a party strategy meeting held at the National Assembly that morning, "Postponing the date does not make illegality legal," adding, "If the Speaker is elected without bipartisan agreement, whether today or Monday, the fact that the Democratic Party violates the National Assembly Act does not change." The Democratic Party initially planned to hold the plenary session alone on that day but postponed it to the 4th.
Seong criticized, "The Democratic Party is trying to reduce the Speaker of the National Assembly, a symbol of representative democracy, to a mere rubber stamp for party interests," and added, "They are trying to elect the Speaker at their discretion without bipartisan agreement and make them the head of a specific faction. This is unprecedented in constitutional history."
He continued, "Everyone already knows how insensitive the Democratic Party is to procedural democracy through repeated legislative rampages," and said, "We hope the Democratic Party does not leave a shameful history in constitutional records. This is a challenge to the people."
Seong also addressed Representative Kim Jin-pyo, elected by the Democratic Party as the Speaker for the second half of the term, saying, "If you want to be a Speaker who upholds the dignity of the National Assembly as you said, you must first be elected through bipartisan agreement and proper procedures," emphasizing, "Please become the Speaker of the Republic of Korea who is respected by the people, not just the Democratic Party's Speaker with Democratic Party blood."
The Democratic Party directly refuted the People Power Party's claim that the forced convening of the plenary session and election of the Speaker is 'illegal.'
Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the expanded executive meeting held at the National Assembly on the 1st and delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@
Park Hong-geun, the floor leader of the Democratic Party, said at an expanded executive meeting held at the National Assembly that morning, "We clearly state that there is no procedural defect in the election of the Speaker for the second half of the term in accordance with Articles 14 and 18 of the National Assembly Act."
He said, "It is up to the People Power Party to decide whether this is a deadlocked National Assembly due to political strife or a National Assembly focused on people’s livelihood," blaming the ruling party for the legislative vacuum lasting a month due to delays in negotiating the organization of the National Assembly.
Park emphasized, "The Democratic Party made a generous decision to concede the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and decided to wait patiently for a sincere response from the ruling party," adding, "The infinite responsibility for cooperation lies with the ruling party." He added, "We will patiently wait until the last moment for the ruling party to take a progressive concession and normalize the National Assembly."
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