Open Democratic Party's First Bill 'National Recall System for Lawmakers'... Also Targets Statements Denying Democratic Movements

Cheong Chang-wook, leader of the Uri Party, attended the plenary session of the National Assembly on the 5th and is talking with members of the Democratic Party of Korea. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] The Open Democratic Party has proposed the National Recall Bill as its first party policy legislation.

The Open Democratic Party stated, "The last National Assembly was criticized by the public as a dysfunctional and inactive assembly. True democracy means that the people can directly judge a non-working National Assembly at any time," and announced on the 8th that party leader Representative Choi Kang-wook has taken the lead in proposing the 'Act on National Recall.'

Although the recall system was introduced at the local government level with the enactment of the 'Act on Resident Recall' in 2006, recall systems for National Assembly members have all failed to pass the legislative process in the National Assembly and were discarded.

The Open Democratic Party adopted the national recall system as its number one pledge in the recent general election. They emphasized, "Preventing a parliament of reckless remarks, deadlock, and incompetence and creating a working parliament is the true beginning of politics that does not betray the people."

The Open Democratic Party explained, "This bill is characterized by including statements by National Assembly members that deny the spirit of the preamble of the Constitution and the 'Democratization Movement' as defined by the Act on the Restoration of Honor and Compensation for Persons Related to the Democratization Movement among the subjects of national recall," adding, "Previous bills that failed to pass the 20th National Assembly limited the recall of National Assembly members to those who did not fulfill their constitutional duties or engaged in abuse of power, dereliction of duty, or illegal activities. However, if this bill passes, it will provide grounds for the people to judge even statements denying the 'legal legitimacy of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea' and the 'Democratization Movement.'"

Three members of the Open Democratic Party, including Choi Kang-wook, Kim Jin-ae, and Kang Min-jung, plan to pursue further political reform legislation such as the three-term limit for National Assembly members and mandatory public participation primaries for proportional representation candidates of political parties.

Representative Choi said, "We promise that a small elite party will break the frozen political customs like an icebreaker," and added, "We ask the people to give us more support so that we can change the political climate."

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