[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] On the 27th, the legal representative of the People Power Party stated that, following the court's provisional injunction decision to suspend the execution of duties by Emergency Response Committee Chairman Joo Ho-young, a system where the floor leader acts as the interim chairman of the Emergency Response Committee is inevitable.
In the 'Review and Status Analysis of the Provisional Injunction Decision' document distributed under the name of lawyer Hwang Jeong-geun, who represents the party in the objection to the provisional injunction, the People Power Party explained, "Since the court approved the provisional injunction decision without separately appointing an acting officer, this is equivalent to a 'party leader accident,' and according to the party constitution (Article 96, Paragraph 5 and Article 29), the floor leader has no choice but to act as the 'interim chairman of the Emergency Response Committee.'"
It added, "The suspension of the Emergency Response Committee chairman's execution of duties does not immediately dissolve the Emergency Response Committee; rather, the floor leader simply becomes the 'interim chairman of the Emergency Response Committee' again," and "unless a separate suspension of execution of duties is imposed on the eight Emergency Response Committee members in the future, the legal status of these eight members remains unchanged."
This was a rebuttal to the former party leader Lee Jun-seok's side, which is considering filing additional provisional injunctions against the remaining Emergency Response Committee members regarding the party's policy to maintain the Emergency Response Committee system.
Regarding the court's decision that the current party situation cannot be regarded as an 'emergency situation,' lawyer Hwang argued, "Currently, there are only three members: the acting party leader, the chair of the Policy Committee, and Kim Yong-tae, the youth supreme council member, so it is clear that the Supreme Council has lost its function."
He also added, "Fundamentally, whether an 'emergency situation has occurred in the party' or whether there is a need to establish an Emergency Response Committee to operate the party stably and resolve the emergency situation is, of course, subject to judicial review, but since it involves political issues (Political Problem) mixed with the realm of politics, the judgment is practically not easy."
He continued, "Even if, as a reflexive effect of establishing the Emergency Response Committee, the Supreme Council is dissolved according to the party constitution, resulting in the loss of status of the party leader who has not resigned as well as all supreme council members, this is the application result of the party constitution, which is the highest norm of the party," and emphasized, "Unless that party constitution violates the Constitution and the Political Parties Act, losing the party leader position due to the establishment of the Emergency Response Committee cannot be said to be contrary to democratic party principles."
He added, "If it is interpreted that 'the party leader must resign to establish the Emergency Response Committee,' it would lead to the strange result that even if all supreme council members resign and only the party leader remains, the Emergency Response Committee cannot be established," and "It is worth considering revising Article 96, Paragraph 1 of the party constitution to state 'in cases where the party leader position is vacant or all elected supreme council members under Article 27 resign, resulting in the loss of the Supreme Council's function and an emergency situation occurring in the party.'"
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