Jo Hae-jin "United Party in a weakened state... Considering fundamental measures for opposition role"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Jo Hae-jin, a member of the Future United Party, described the Democratic Party of Korea taking control of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee in the negotiation for the National Assembly organization as a "castrated situation" and stated that essential measures must be established for the opposition party to fulfill its role.

On the 17th, Jo appeared on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' and said, "The public does not want the opposition party to play a mere supporting role like invisible people," expressing this view.

He emphasized, "In the formation of the Speaker's group and standing committee chairpersons, we are in a state where our hands and feet are completely cut off, a castrated situation," adding, "If we are to not give up on the National Assembly and not remove our badges, and serve as the opposition party for the full four-year term, we must establish fundamental measures on how to do so."

He continued, "Whether the Democratic Party takes all the standing committee chair positions this week or not is not the main concern. Even if they take all 18, it makes little difference given that the Legislation and Judiciary Committee chair was taken from us," and said, "The entire group of lawmakers will gather to discuss how to respond to the standing committees and how to conduct plenary sessions over the next four years as the opposition party. For this, comprehensive and fundamental measures will be formulated and discussions will be concentrated for some time."

Jo said, "The structure has been made so that the opposition party's proposals are not properly reflected, and instead, the proposals favored by the Democratic Party and the Blue House are passed," adding, "Is it possible to reflect the will of 41% of the people in state affairs and legislation? Entering the National Assembly with such concerns and alternatives is meaningful."

Regarding the formation of the Speaker's group, Jo explained, "The hardware for how to operate the 21st National Assembly is the formation of the Speaker's group," and said, "We could incorporate the 117:103 opinion ratio into it, but the Democratic Party is coming out with the intention to do it 100:0," clarifying why the United Party cannot negotiate.

He said, "From the law banning North Korean leaflets to the law penalizing remarks about the May 18 Gwangju incident, the budget, ratification of the inter-Korean summit agreement, and even undisclosed matters, they have lined up a series of bills to be processed before the end of President Moon Jae-in's two-year term," adding, "If the Democratic Party had the opinion to mix in about half of the United Party's proposals when they come in, there would be no need to insist on this one-sided dominance. The problem is that they have no intention of accepting the proposals presented by the United Party."

Regarding the criticism that the Legislation and Judiciary Committee could delay legislation for nearly 300 days, he responded, "There are 41% of the people who think that the Democratic Party should be blocked not just for 300 days but for the entire four years from passing laws that unilaterally overturn the country's identity, constitutional values, infringe on citizens' basic rights, regress the nation, and kill the economy," and countered, "If it is beneficial for the future of the Republic of Korea and the development of the country, there is no reason for the 103 United Party lawmakers or the 41% of the people to oppose it."

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