Blue House Responds to National Petition on Candidate Recommendation Certificate: "Exclusive Authority of the Legislature"

Blue House Responds:
Lawmakers' Salaries and National Candidate Recommendation Certificate System
Are Matters Under Legislative Authority

[Asia Economy, Reporter Ryu Jungmin] The Blue House has stated that the introduction of a "reduction in lawmakers' salaries and a national candidate recommendation certificate system" falls under the exclusive authority of the legislative branch in response to a public petition.

On July 6, the Blue House said, "The petitioner argued for unpaid parliamentary positions, claiming that 'members of parliament in Europe (Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, etc.) serve as unpaid honorary positions.'" The petitioner also called for the implementation of a national candidate recommendation certificate system to prevent factional politics within political parties. The petition included a request for presidential candidates who receive 300,000 public recommendation signatures to be allowed to participate in televised debates. The petition received the support of 200,000 citizens.

The view of the Blue House from Namsan, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

The Blue House stated, "Matters such as lawmakers' allowances or the national candidate recommendation certificate system requested by the petitioner fall under the exclusive authority of the legislative branch and require legal amendments," and added, "We ask for your understanding that the Blue House is not in a position to provide a specific response regarding the direction of these matters."

Additionally, the Blue House explained, "Although the petitioner mentioned that members of parliament in countries such as Germany serve as unpaid honorary positions, lawmakers in those countries also receive compensation for their activities in accordance with their respective national laws," and added, "Currently, discussions on improving the lawmakers' compensation system are ongoing in the National Assembly."

The Blue House further stated, "Under the Public Official Election Act of our country, individuals not affiliated with a political party may run as independent candidates if they receive recommendations from a certain number of eligible voters. However, the election law sets an upper limit on the number of recommendations allowed. In addition, eligibility for participation in televised debates organized by the Election Broadcasting Debate Commission is defined under Article 82-2 of the Public Official Election Act."

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