Meeting with Elected Members... Calls for Reform
Practical Emergency Committee as Party Recovery Phase
Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, is attending the 22nd National Assembly People Power Party and People’s Future elected members' general meeting held at the National Assembly on the 16th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
Yoon Jae-ok, the floor leader of the People Power Party and acting party leader, criticized the Democratic Party of Korea's attempt to pass the Chae Sang-byeong special prosecutor law unilaterally, stating that "the preconditions for the special prosecutor have not been met."
After concluding the elected members' meeting at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 16th, Yoon told reporters, "This week is the winner's time. (The Democratic Party) is speaking from the perspective of the winner of the election, and those who lost are refraining from rebutting each point one by one, fearing it might appear as if they are not reflecting." He added, "For example, I do not believe that the toxic clauses of the Chae Sang-byeong special prosecutor law will be detoxified just because they won the election," and said, "There is a precondition that the fairness of the special prosecutor must be at least guaranteed." He also mentioned, "We are considering how to respond in that regard."
Yoon said, "A special prosecutor is appointed when the investigation by investigative agencies is insufficient or deemed unfair," and added, "The police investigation is still ongoing, and it is also ambiguous whether the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials has started its investigation." He continued, "It is customary to consider the preconditions for a special prosecutor met only after all such processes are completed and it is concluded that the investigation was insufficient or unfair," emphasizing, "In fact, the Democratic Party passed the special prosecutor law unilaterally, but if this is how things are done in the 22nd National Assembly, how should minority parties respond?"
Meanwhile, at the elected members' meeting on the same day, the People Power Party agreed to form a 'practical emergency response committee' before holding a party convention to elect new leadership and also approved the merger of the People Power Party with its proportional satellite party, People’s Future.
Yoon said, "There was consensus to quickly stabilize the party and enable the leadership system to be launched as soon as possible," adding, "This is not a situation for an innovation-type emergency committee; it should be understood as a practical emergency committee to hold the party convention." The newly formed emergency committee will not have full authority to lead the party but will serve as a formal interim body before the party convention.
In the process of rebuilding the party after the general election defeat, the People Power Party also decided to listen to the opinions of the party’s standing advisors and the defeated candidates. A meeting for the party’s standing advisors is scheduled for 2 p.m. on the 17th, and a meeting for the defeated candidates will be held on the 19th.
After the elected members' meeting, Ahn Cheol-soo, a People Power Party lawmaker, told reporters, "Most of the approximately 140 defeated candidates are from the Seoul metropolitan area," and said, "If we listen to them, we can receive the public sentiment of half of the country's population, and forming the party and leadership accordingly will align with public opinion."
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