Gyeonggi Council People Power Party Breaks Agreement with Democratic Party

The People Power Party in the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly has decided to terminate the agreement on the organization of the assembly with the Democratic Party of Korea.

On the 7th, the People Power Party held a press conference at the assembly briefing room and stated, "Although we have maintained a cooperative relationship according to the agreement signed with the Democratic Party on June 27 regarding the operation of the second half of the assembly, Speaker Kim Jin-kyung has forgotten his position as the representative of the assembly and has conducted biased assembly operations as a representative of the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party has also colluded in this, violating the agreement between the two parties."

They continued, "The Democratic Party first broke the agreement, and the clause in the agreement to mutually exchange the chairpersons of the Steering Committee and the Planning and Finance Committee (each serving one year) has also been broken. The People Power Party will maintain the position of the chairperson of the Steering Committee for two years," they announced.

The two parties had agreed on June 27, ahead of the second half organization of the assembly, that the Democratic Party would take the chairpersonship for the second half, and the 13 standing committee chairpersons would be divided with six for the Democratic Party and seven for the People Power Party.

The People Power Party of the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly is holding a press conference and declaring the termination of the agreement with the Democratic Party of Korea. Photo by the People Power Party of the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly

Additionally, the chairpersons of the Steering Committee and the Planning and Finance Committee were to alternate between the two parties over two years, each serving one year. Currently, the chairperson of the Steering Committee is Representative Yang Woo-sik of the People Power Party, and the chairperson of the Planning and Finance Committee is Representative Cho Sung-hwan of the Democratic Party.

The Steering Committee includes representatives from both parties and oversees departments such as the Governor’s Secretariat, support agencies, the spokesperson’s office, and the assembly secretariat.

Earlier, the People Power Party refused to attend the regular session that opened on the 5th and has been absent from the plenary session for three consecutive days. As a result, the plenary session’s questions on provincial and educational administration were postponed, and meetings of the standing committees could not be held.

Currently, the number of assembly members by party is 76 for the People Power Party, 76 for the Democratic Party, and 2 for the Reform New Party. If the People Power Party does not participate, it will be difficult to process agenda items (which require a majority of the total members present and a majority vote).

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party held a rally in front of the plenary session hall on the same day, stating, "The People Power Party must immediately stop the baseless disruption of the assembly and return to the assembly," and argued, "Claiming the chairpersonship of the Steering Committee for two years is sheer obstinacy, and breaking the agreement is unacceptable."