Song Eon-seok Urges Speaker Woo: "Do Not Put National Referendum Act on Plenary Agenda"

On February 24, Song Eon-seok, floor leader of the People Power Party, said to National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik, "I strongly request that you do not put the National Referendum Act, which contains provisions that even you were not aware of and has serious procedural flaws, on the agenda of today's plenary session."

Yonhap News Agency

In his opening remarks at a general meeting of party lawmakers held at the National Assembly that morning, Floor Leader Song said, "Looking at the National Referendum Act, which the ruling party unilaterally pushed through at the National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee, it includes a provision to the effect that a person shall be punished by up to 10 years in prison if they publish false information related to the National Election Commission, and this was something that neither the Speaker of the National Assembly nor the floor leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea had been aware of in advance," making these points.

Floor Leader Song went on to say, "Even if it passes the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, there must be a one-day deliberation period before it passes the plenary session, and there has been no case in which this has not been observed," adding, "Only when the ruling and opposition parties agreed and the matter was urgent was it handled more quickly, but as of this very moment, it has not yet been decided at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee which bills will be passed."

Floor Leader Song said, "It is the history of our National Assembly that, institutionally, checks and balances were ensured by having the largest party in the Assembly hold the speakership and the second-largest party hold the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee," and asked, "What has been the result of the ruling party monopolizing even the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee?"

Floor Leader Song also commented on the three judicial reform bills that the ruling party has said it will push through, calling them "unconstitutional" and saying, "I once again urge the Democratic Party leadership to immediately stop these totalitarian and dictatorial acts that destroy the judicial system of the Republic of Korea and completely neutralize the Constitution."