Han Jeong-ae Criticizes "Working National Assembly's Obstacle is the Floor Leaders of Negotiation Groups"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] Han Jeong-ae, head of the Working National Assembly Promotion Team of the Democratic Party of Korea, pointed out that “the obstacle to a working National Assembly is the floor leaders of the negotiation groups,” and said, “The most fundamental step to returning to a working National Assembly is for the floor leaders of the negotiation groups to ease the pressure on their shoulders.”

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the morning of the 28th, at a policy coordination meeting held at the National Assembly, Han said, “Currently, the floor leaders of the negotiation groups stand above the Speaker of the National Assembly. Nothing can proceed without the floor leaders’ agreement.”

He added, “If the floor leaders set a deadline and fail to reach an agreement, the Speaker should proceed with the legislative schedule,” and criticized, “For some reason, the system of floor leaders of negotiation groups, which was created to facilitate the progress of proceedings, is instead planting bombs everywhere.”

As a countermeasure, he urged for year-round continuous operation of the National Assembly and the public announcement of basic schedules. He said, “The government and the public need to know in which months the National Assembly operates and what is being discussed,” and added, “The official website of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea only shows past schedules, so it is impossible to know what will happen in the future because we have to wait for the floor leaders’ agreement.”

He continued, “The biggest task of lawmakers is not to work but to wait,” and criticized, “At this rate, someday they might even tell us not to breathe if the floor leaders of the negotiation groups have not reached an agreement.”

He emphasized, “For the National Assembly to return to basics and become a working National Assembly, the floor leaders must start by relinquishing powers that were not granted to them.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.