Education Committee Passes with Min Hyung-bae as Opposition Member
Joo Ho-young: "Both Procedural and Substantive Democracy Destroyed"
Lee Tae-gyu: "Trying to Hold 'Their Own Hearing' as if Making a Midnight Escape"
Joo Ho-young, the floor leader of the People Power Party, criticized the Democratic Party of Korea's behavior regarding the National Assembly's operations on the 21st. The day before, the Education Committee held a meeting of the agenda adjustment committee to pass the agenda on the school violence hearing involving the son of lawyer Jeong Soon-shin, who was appointed and then dismissed as head of the National Investigation Headquarters. However, the Democratic Party claimed that they did not properly notify the People Power Party members even about the schedule.
At the floor strategy meeting held that day, Floor Leader Joo said, "The Democratic Party takes their participation in the democratization movement as their most important asset, but when it comes to actual National Assembly operations, they destroy democratic procedures," adding, "Democracy includes procedural democracy and substantive democracy, but they ignore and destroy both procedure and substance."
He argued, "Yesterday, the Education Committee held an agenda adjustment meeting without notifying our party of the time itself," and said, "Such a meeting is invalid. Not giving sufficient time to attend the meeting itself is invalid." He also added, "They repeatedly create a 3-to-3 split by counting Min Hyung-bae, who defected in disguise, as part of our party, and then a few minutes later change it to 4-to-2."
Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the floor countermeasure meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 17th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@
The agenda adjustment committee is formed to review agendas that require reconciliation of differences, and a bill can be approved only if more than two-thirds of the total members agree. The committee was composed of three Democratic Party members (Kim Young-ho, Park Kwang-on, Seo Dong-yong), independent Min Hyung-bae, and two People Power Party members (Kim Byung-wook, Lee Tae-gyu), making it possible for the opposition party to pass decisions alone. The school violence hearing agenda will be finally approved at the full Education Committee meeting that day.
Lee Tae-gyu, the ruling party secretary of the Education Committee, said at the floor strategy meeting, "They trampled on the purpose of the agenda adjustment committee, which was to have a reflection period and create a compromise plan," and added, "The reason they rushed to pass their own Jeong Soon-shin hearing is, first, to prevent the school violence involving a Democratic Party lawmaker's son, and second, to block the revelation of their original sin in handling Jeong Soon-shin's son's school violence." The incident and its handling occurred during the Moon Jae-in administration, and related investigations should summon the Gangwon-do Education Superintendent, Seoul Education Superintendent, and former Blue House Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Cho Kuk, but the opposition party is trying to block this by holding their 'own hearing.'
Floor Leader Joo also pointed out, "Not only did they unilaterally pass the direct referral of the Grain Management Act to the plenary session, but it is also known that they plan to forcibly push the direct referral of the Broadcasting Act amendment to the plenary session at the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee today. There are reports that they are also considering direct referral of the Yellow Envelope Act to the plenary session," adding, "If they start to dismantle the entire legislative system of the National Assembly just because they have 180 seats, the National Assembly Act and constitutional system will not be maintained."
He continued, "The Democratic Party has previously unilaterally passed laws such as the three lease laws and the 'complete prosecution reform' law, and they keep repeating these actions without apology, correction, or reflection," and said, "The only way to stop this is to recover the seats."
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