Planning to Focus on Special Committees for Livelihood Issues Instead of Standing Committees
"The Public Is Watching the Legislative Rush"
The People Power Party criticized the Democratic Party of Korea for unilaterally pushing through the election of 11 standing committee chairpersons, including the Steering Committee and the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, calling it a 'parliamentary dictatorship' to shield leader Lee Jae-myung, and demanded the resignation of Speaker Woo Won-shik for proceeding with an unagreed legislative schedule.
On the 11th, Choo Kyung-ho, the floor leader of the People Power Party, held a party meeting at the National Assembly and announced a resolution urging Speaker Woo to resign. This was due to his failure to faithfully perform his duties as stipulated in Article 10 of the National Assembly Act. The Act states that the Speaker represents the National Assembly, organizes proceedings, maintains order, and supervises administrative affairs. Bae Jun-young, the senior deputy floor leader, said, "As the head of the legislative branch, the Speaker has the duty and authority to uphold the dignity and powers of the National Assembly and ensure democratic civil rights while conducting legislative procedures. However, during the second plenary session of the 315th extraordinary session on the 10th, the Speaker violated his duty of neutrality by conducting biased proceedings and setting the legislative schedule during the vote on the agenda for the election of standing committee chairpersons." He added, "We strongly condemn this anti-democratic and anti-parliamentary behavior and breach of neutrality, which seriously undermines parliamentary democracy and constitutional order." The People Power Party submitted the resolution to the legislative affairs department that day.
The People Power Party then held a closed party meeting to discuss the situation of the standing committees following the previous day. The party stated that it would not participate in standing committee meetings chaired by chairpersons unilaterally elected by the opposition party alone. This is effectively a boycott. Instead, they plan to conduct party-government consultations through a special committee under the policy committee, which has already received official reports from government ministries. On the same day, Representative Kwon Young-jin said on BBS Radio, "The People Power Party cannot be a mere bystander to this parliamentary dictatorship aimed at shielding leader Lee Jae-myung," but added, "As the ruling party, we cannot neglect the care of people’s livelihoods even for a moment. At yesterday’s party meeting, there was consensus that the responsibility to look after livelihoods through the special committee must be fulfilled."
On the 10th, Choo Kyung-ho, floor leader of the People Power Party, is entering the Speaker's office at the National Assembly to meet Woo Won-shik, Speaker of the National Assembly. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@
Regarding criticism that the ruling party’s boycott of the standing committee schedule is inappropriate, the opposition stated that it cannot unconditionally cooperate with the ruling party’s unilateral actions. Jang Dong-hyuk, the senior deputy spokesperson, said on MBC Radio, "Looking at the opposition party’s stance, it seems they have not opened the door to cooperation even a bit," and added, "Just because they are the ruling party, it is not certain that we should unconditionally cooperate and move forward; this requires further consideration." He also pointed out, "The Democratic Party’s purpose in taking the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, the Steering Committee, and the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee is clear. At least in the 21st National Assembly, which had more seats than this (22nd), there was a negotiation period of about forty days, but now they are acting like this because there is too little time to save leader Lee Jae-myung."
There is also a sentiment that gaining the remaining seven chairperson positions beyond the 11 elected the previous day holds little significance. Representative Cho Kyung-tae said on CBS Radio, "Politics should be about resolving issues smoothly through consultation, negotiation, and agreement, but they are acting arbitrarily, saying ‘take it if you want, leave it if you don’t,’ and I want to ask if this is truly democratic thinking." Representative Yoon Sang-hyun also predicted in a YouTube interview, "Ultimately, the Democratic Party will take all the remaining positions. The public is witnessing the results of legislative overreach," and forecasted, "Although it seems they will get their way immediately, they will soon face a backlash from public opinion."
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