Budget Standoff... Controversy Over 'Party Member Bulletin Board'
Mayor Oh: "Wasting Precious Time Due to Intra-Party Conflict"
"Relying Only on the Ruling Party... Will Act for Livelihood Budget"
On the 2nd, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon urged the People Power Party, saying, "They must put down the arrows aimed at each other within the party and work tirelessly to reclaim the people's budget." This appears to point out the ongoing controversy over the 'party member bulletin board' within the party for nearly a month, despite the ruling and opposition parties being in extreme confrontation over next year's budget bill.
On the same day in the afternoon, Mayor Oh posted on Facebook an article titled 'The Ruling Party's Path Against Budget Tyranny,' stating, "What is sadder than the unprecedented budget cuts is the helplessness of our ruling party."
In particular, Mayor Oh said, "There is nothing more surprising about the bulletproof legislation for Representative Lee Jae-myung or the impeachment of the Prosecutor General and the Board of Audit and Inspection chairman, as these were already expected," adding, "But seeing the budget, which affects the lives of the people and the country's future, being held hostage by the Democratic Party of Korea makes it impossible to contain my indignation." He continued, "What is sadder than the unprecedented budget cuts is the ruling party's helplessness," and pointed out, "It is painful to be criticized for 'wasting precious time due to internal party conflicts' while the foundation of democracy is shaking."
"Just as the minority ruling party can only rely on the people, the people can only rely on the ruling party," he emphasized, "Now is the time for the ruling party to fulfill its responsibility as the protector of liberal democracy." He added, "As the Mayor of Seoul, I will also step up to reclaim the local livelihood budget cut due to the Democratic Party's tyranny," and said, "This is the true beginning of the ruling party's identity."
Earlier, the Democratic Party of Korea forcibly processed next year's budget bill in the Budget and Accounts Committee without any increase, only reflecting cuts, and intended to submit the budget bill to the plenary session on the same day. However, the People Power Party strongly opposed and demanded the withdrawal of the cut budget bill, and the ruling and opposition parties failed to reach an agreement by the legal deadline for the budget bill on the same day. Consequently, Speaker Woo Won-shik did not submit the budget bill and asked both parties to continue negotiations until the 10th.
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