Park Hong-geun to push for plenary session legislation until end of term on 27th
"New leadership must be politically capable and more flexible"
The term of Park Hong-geun, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea who took charge during the crisis following the presidential election defeat, ends on the 27th. Until the last day of his term, he is pushing hard to fast-track the special prosecutor law and push for the votes on the Nursing Act and Medical Service Act in the plenary session, but critical voices within the party are growing louder. There are also calls for the new leadership to show a different style of leadership.
On this day, Park announced the plan to respond to the plenary session at the policy coordination meeting, his last meeting presided over at the National Assembly. He said, "Yesterday, 182 members of our party and opposition lawmakers submitted a consent proposal to the National Assembly requesting the designation of the ‘50 Billion Club Special Prosecutor Law’ and the ‘Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Law’ as fast-track bills." He added, "We must pass the consent proposal for the designation of the special prosecutor law as a fast-track bill at today’s plenary session to sound the alarm against the arbitrary and selective rule of law by Yoon Seok-yeol’s political prosecution, and to ensure that ‘guilty without prosecution, innocent with prosecution’ no longer applies." He continued, "The government and ruling party irresponsibly changed their stance and failed to exercise any mediation power, so the processing of bills directly related to the lives of the people, such as the Nursing Act and Medical Service Act, and the referral of the ‘Broadcasting Act’ can no longer be postponed."
Since the fast-track designation has even gained the support of the Justice Party, they plan to push through both special prosecutor bills by the regular session this year, and since no consensus has been reached with the ruling party on the Nursing Act and Medical Service Act, they intend to proceed with a vote based on the opposition party’s proposal.
Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the policy coordination meeting held at the National Assembly on the 27th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
Park, who was elected on March 24 last year, has led the Democratic Party, which fell from the ruling party to the main opposition party. From the second half of the National Assembly organization negotiations, he has led the passage of the “complete prosecution reform” law, budget approval, the first veto exercise by the Yoon Seok-yeol government on the Grain Management Act, and the rejection of the arrest consent motion for Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party leader. After losing the administration and the local elections, leaving the party in shambles, he focused on building a ‘strong opposition party.’
Within the party, there are many evaluations of his dedication, but there are also many criticisms that he took excessive measures. The principled Park, faced with the reality of being in the opposition, fell into the temptation of unilateralism, and the result was excessive measures. In fact, during the process of passing the prosecution and police investigation authority adjustment bill, which the Democratic Party itself calls prosecution reform legislation, controversies arose such as lawmaker Min Hyung-bae’s cunning resignation and the paralysis of the agenda coordination committee. As a result, on the 26th, Park publicly expressed regret by announcing the decision to reinstate lawmaker Min, stating, "I deeply regret, as the floor leader of the Democratic Party at the time, the judgment of the majority of constitutional court justices that the agenda coordination system was violated and that the review rights of the ruling party’s judiciary committee members were restricted."
Within the party, there have been many voices calling for a leadership style different from Park’s management approach so far.
A senior lawmaker within the party evaluated, "He handled the promised issues well as floor leader and kept the party’s center stable during chaotic times." This senior lawmaker, generally favorable to Park, did not give a positive evaluation regarding the reinstatement of lawmaker Min. In fact, there were many critical voices about the controversy over Min’s reinstatement, which was pushed forward near the end of Park’s term with a sense of responsibility.
A re-elected lawmaker from the metropolitan area said, "Although he may have pushed for Min’s reinstatement with a sense of responsibility, given that the Constitutional Court ruling has already been made, I cannot understand what benefit this rushed handling brings to the party’s situation or how it can persuade the public." He added, "Once the new floor leadership is formed, major issues should be decided in party meetings."
A re-elected lawmaker from a provincial area said, "(Park) is personally likable, but it was frustrating that he led the party as a bulletproof party." He evaluated, "The floor leader’s role is to negotiate and produce results, but he was too combative."
A first-term lawmaker from the metropolitan area also expressed regret. He said, "(Park) couldn’t read the flow of the lawmakers and was trapped in his own world." He added, "He didn’t even predict the voting result on February 27." February 27 was the day the arrest consent motion for Lee was processed, during which many defections occurred within the party. Despite holding a majority of seats, the Democratic Party had more votes in favor (139) and against (138) the arrest consent motion. Due to abstentions and other factors, the motion failed to gain a majority of the members present and was rejected. This first-term lawmaker said, "I hope the next leadership will have flexibility and political skills to coordinate and listen to different opinions."
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