People Party: "Lee Nak-yeon Shows Rational Leadership... Hopes for Cooperation with Opposition"

"President Moon Silent in Difficult Situation... Hope He Does Not Repeat Lack of Communication"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] On the 7th, the People’s Party evaluated the speech by Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, during the negotiation group representative speech, stating, “Regarding the 4th supplementary budget for responding to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), he emphasized the justification for selective emergency disaster relief payments and showed a sensible and rational leader-like attitude by urging lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties to promptly process the supplementary budget bill to be submitted to the National Assembly soon.”

On the same day, Ahn Hye-jin, spokesperson for the People’s Party, said in a commentary, “Since he mentioned that issues such as strengthening the public healthcare system and establishing regional infectious disease specialized hospitals will be discussed again through a consultative body after the COVID-19 situation calms down, we hope that the Democratic Party, which in the past was dogmatic by only listening to the voices of stakeholders on the same side, will break away from such unilateralism and engage in proper consultations through sufficient communication with experts from various fields and stakeholders with differing opinions, so that unfortunate incidents like the recent medical strike will never happen again.”

Spokesperson Ahn added, “Regarding gender equality issues, Lee Nak-yeon promised to dismantle the structure of female oppression, apologized for the frequent sexual harassment incidents involving Democratic Party-affiliated public officials, pledged to strengthen internal inspections and gender-sensitivity education, and to promptly reinforce institutional measures to protect victims. However, this should not have ended with an apology alone; it was appropriate to reveal the exact criminal facts of the various past incidents with a strict standard and to show a firm determination to strengthen punishments, making such promises to the public.”

Spokesperson Ahn said, “As the whole world freezes due to the COVID-19 crisis and stands at a new turning point, it is an important time not only to prepare solidly for the post-COVID era but also to overcome the immediate economic crisis. We hope that, unlike President Moon Jae-in, who tends to remain silent in difficult or awkward situations, the ruling party leader will build a solid foundation for national unity through cooperation with the opposition as a rational and sensible leader of the ruling party.”

Spokesperson Ahn concluded, “We hope this will be a turning point for the ruling party to break away from the past, where it was preoccupied with supporting the current administration and accustomed to shielding the incompetence of the executive branch, and to quickly escape the image of a runaway locomotive born from arrogance. By focusing on the National Assembly’s original role as a legislative body and conducting a cold evaluation and audit of the current government, the ruling party will not lose the support and backing of the people who empowered the large ruling party.”

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