Democratic Party, Violating National Assembly Act Even If Plenary Session Is Postponed... Do They Have Something to Hide?

Criticism of Seong Il-jong and Song Eon-seok by the Democratic Party at the People Power Party's Daily Floor Strategy Meeting

Sung Il-jong, Chairman of the Policy Committee of the People Power Party, is attending the floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 1st and delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Geum Bo-ryeong] The Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) plans to hold a plenary session on the 4th to elect the Speaker of the National Assembly, which the People Power Party (PPP) has strongly criticized.

Seong Il-jong, the PPP Policy Committee Chair, stated at a party strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the morning of the 1st, "Postponing the date does not make illegality legal," adding, "If the Speaker is elected without bipartisan agreement, whether it happens today or on Monday, the fact that the DPK violates the National Assembly Act does not change." The DPK had originally planned to hold the plenary session unilaterally on this day but postponed it to the 4th.

Seong criticized, "The DPK is trying to reduce the Speaker of the National Assembly, a symbol of representative democracy, to a mere rubber stamp for party interests," and added, "They are trying to elect the Speaker at their own discretion without bipartisan agreement, making the Speaker the head of a specific faction. This is unprecedented in constitutional history."

He continued, "Everyone already knows how insensitive the DPK is to procedural democracy through repeated legislative rampages," and warned, "I hope the DPK does not leave a shameful history in constitutional records. This is a challenge to the people."

Seong also addressed Representative Kim Jin-pyo, who was elected by the DPK as the Speaker for the second half of the term, saying, "If you want to be a Speaker who upholds the dignity of the National Assembly as you said, you must first be elected through bipartisan agreement and proper procedures," emphasizing, "Please become the Speaker of the Republic of Korea who is respected by the people, not just the DPK’s Speaker with DPK blood."

Song Eon-seok, the PPP Senior Deputy Floor Leader, also criticized, "The DPK calls their concession of the Chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee a magnanimous decision and repeatedly talks about concessions to the PPP," adding, "But properly implementing an already agreed-upon situation is not a concession. The Chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee was settled a year ago. Using the word 'concession' while paying off overdue debts is simply absurd."

Song further questioned, "By bringing up the Chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, which is not even a subject for concession, and demanding the withdrawal of the Special Committee on Judicial Reform and the Constitutional Court’s jurisdictional dispute lawsuit, is the DPK proposing an unfair deal to the PPP because they have something they want to hide or fear?" He urged, "What the DPK should do is apologize to the people for trampling on the Constitution and laws and carrying out parliamentary dictatorship, and sincerely reflect on the will of the people. We urge them to come to the table of cooperation with genuine intent and focus on the distribution of standing committee chairmanships."

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