Kyungsillyeon Announces Data Aggregation Results of the 21st National Assembly
As the 21st National Assembly approaches its final stages, it has been revealed that the member of the National Assembly with the lowest attendance rate in standing committees, often called the "flower of the National Assembly," is Ahn Cheol-soo of the People Power Party.
Regardless of party affiliation, attendance rates in standing committees were lower among members with three or more terms compared to first-term members, and constituency representatives had lower attendance rates than proportional representatives.
The Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) announced on the 25th that, based on data collected on the 'standing committee attendance status' of 298 current members from June 2020, when the 21st National Assembly's standing committees began full operation, until the end of August this year, Ahn recorded the lowest attendance rate at 64.3%.
The Citizens' Movement Headquarters of the Economic Justice Practice Federation holding a press conference announcing the low attendance rate of incumbent members of the National Assembly at the standing committee on the 25th. [Photo by Kyungsilryeon]
Following Ahn, the members with the lowest attendance rates were Yoon Sang-hyun of the People Power Party (67.5%), Kim Tae-ho of the People Power Party (69.9%), Ha Tae-kyung of the People Power Party (69.9%), Park Yong-jin of the Democratic Party (73.1%), Park Deok-heum of the People Power Party (73.3%), Woo Sang-ho of the Democratic Party (74.4%), Park Jin of the People Power Party (75.5%), Jung Woon-chun of the People Power Party (76.9%), Lee Sang-min of the Democratic Party (77.1%), and Jang Je-won of the People Power Party (77.6%), making up the top 10 list of lowest attendance rates.
When selecting the top 30 members with the lowest attendance rates by party affiliation, three out of four were members of the People Power Party. The People Power Party accounted for 23 out of 30 members, or 76.7%, while the Democratic Party accounted for 7 out of 30 members, or 23.3%.
By electoral district, among the top 30 members with the lowest attendance rates, only one was a proportional representative, while 29 were constituency representatives, showing an overwhelming ratio of 29 to 1. This is a significant difference compared to the current ratio of constituency to proportional representatives among sitting members, which is approximately 5.3 to 1.
There was also a tendency for attendance rates to be lower among members with multiple terms. Among the top 30 members with the lowest attendance rates, 21 (70%) were members with three or more terms. First-term and second-term members accounted for 4 and 5 members respectively. This contrasts with the overall ratio of first- and second-term members to members with three or more terms among current members, which is 0.3 to 1, indicating that the proportion of first- and second-term members is more than three times higher.
One of the main reasons for the low attendance rates was 'absences.' According to the CCEJ survey, among the 10 members with the lowest attendance rates in standing committees, seven members?Yoon Sang-hyun, Kim Tae-ho, Park Deok-heum, Woo Sang-ho, Jung Woon-chun, Lee Sang-min, and Jang Je-won?were also included in the top 30 for highest absence rates.
The CCEJ excluded concurrent standing committees and special committees such as the National Assembly Steering Committee, Intelligence Committee, and Gender Equality and Family Committee, which members could additionally participate in, to eliminate differences in the number of meetings and attendance days based on the number of committees served. They also excluded periods during which members held positions such as minister, party leader, or floor leader from the survey.
After the CCEJ announcement, Ahn stated, "I was inevitably unable to attend standing committees during the party convention period from the end of last year to early this year," adding, "I apologize to the people without any excuse. I will do my best in legislative activities for the remainder of my term."
Meanwhile, this announcement by the CCEJ is the second following last month's release of the 'bottom 10 in legislative performance' and 'bottom 10 in plenary session attendance rates,' aimed at urging thorough review and management of National Assembly members with poor legislative activities. In last month's survey, Kim Woong of the People Power Party recorded the lowest legislative performance with 3.0 bills, and Park Jin of the People Power Party had the lowest plenary session attendance rate at 72.5%.
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