Choo Kyung-ho Demands Seven Standing Committee Chairpersons Including the Second Half of the 21st Session
The People Power Party stated on the 2nd that in the negotiation for the organization of the 22nd National Assembly, the seven standing committee chair positions, including the Chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, the Chair of the Steering Committee, and the Chair of the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee, should be allocated to the ruling party, just as in the latter half of the 21st National Assembly.
On the same day, during a press briefing at the National Assembly, Floor Leader Choo Kyung-ho said, "We declare that the distribution of standing committee chairs operated in the latter half of the 21st National Assembly is our People Power Party's proposal."
Chu Kyung-ho, floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at a press briefing on current issues held at the National Assembly in Seoul on the afternoon of the 2nd. [Photo by Yonhap News]
In the latter half of the 21st National Assembly, the People Power Party held the chairmanships of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, the Steering Committee, the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee, as well as the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, the National Defense Committee, the Planning and Finance Committee, and the Intelligence Committee.
In particular, Floor Leader Choo emphasized, "We must definitely keep the chairs of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, the Steering Committee, and the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee," adding, "If not, then if you want to take the chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, hand over the Speaker position to us."
He urged, "Although the seat distribution between the ruling and opposition parties in the 22nd National Assembly is not significantly different from that of the 21st National Assembly, the Democratic Party of Korea is completely changing the framework of the organization and operation of the Assembly to dominate it and run it like a Democratic Party caucus. They should abandon such arrogance and self-righteousness."
He criticized, "Regarding the organization of the 22nd National Assembly, the Democratic Party declared that they will take not only the Speaker position but also the chairs of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and the Steering Committee, claiming that they must follow the will of the general election. That is not the will of the election but a winner-takes-all approach. The Democratic Party with 171 seats trying to arbitrarily control the 300-seat Assembly is a distortion of the election will."
Regarding Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung's statement that "Democracy is based on majority rule, so the organization negotiation will be conducted according to the law," he said, "The real intention is not 'according to the law' but 'according to power.' If that's the case, why negotiate between the ruling and opposition parties? Are they asking us to be a Democratic Party stooge just to maintain appearances?"
He emphasized, "It is an established precedent that the Speaker and the Chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee belong to different parties to prevent unilateral legislative dominance by a specific party."
He continued, "In fact, the Democratic Party already has 171 seats alone, and the entire opposition has around 192 seats, so they have all the means to neutralize the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. If the Democratic Party wants, they can bypass the committee at will, so insisting on the chairmanship seems to show that they find even minimal checks and balances burdensome."
Furthermore, Floor Leader Choo stressed, "It has been a precedent since the 13th National Assembly after democratization in 1987 that the ruling party holds the chair of the Steering Committee."
He said, "After the inauguration of the Moon Jae-in administration in 2017, the Democratic Party (then the opposition) even demanded the immediate resignation of the incumbent Steering Committee chair from the opposition, emphasizing the legitimacy of the ruling party holding the chair. Ignoring their past claims and stubbornly insisting now, are they trying to shake the president and exacerbate government instability?"
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