The Democratic Party Boycotts the First Plenary Session of the 22nd National Assembly... "Condemning the Democratic Party's Parliamentary Dictatorship"

Opposition Absent as Ruling Party Holds First Solo Opening
Ruling Party Slogans "No Parliament Without Agreement" at Rotunda Hall
Ruling Party Veterans Criticize Opposition, Citing "History of Parliamentary Agreement"

The People Power Party boycotted the first plenary session of the 22nd National Assembly and gathered in front of the plenary hall to condemn the Democratic Party of Korea. They cited the reason that the ruling party unilaterally pushed forward without any agreement on the agenda for electing the Speaker of the National Assembly and the organization of the committees. As a result, the first-ever opposition party solo opening of the National Assembly and election of the Speaker took place.

On that day, People Power Party lawmakers gathered in the Rotunda Hall of the National Assembly in the afternoon, chanting slogans such as "No Parliament without Agreement" and held a protest until the election of the Speaker was completed. After remarks by Bae Jun-young, the senior deputy floor leader of the People Power Party, and Choo Kyung-ho, the floor leader, senior lawmakers including Joo Ho-young, Yoon Jae-ok, Kim Ki-hyun, Na Kyung-won, and Cho Kyung-tae led the protest.

Earlier, only Choo Kyung-ho, the floor leader of the People Power Party, entered the plenary hall alone and criticized the opposition through a parliamentary procedure speech. He said, "The People Power Party hoped that today would be the official opening day with the election of the Speaker and the organization of committees based on bipartisan agreement," but added, "It is very regrettable as the ruling party floor leader that this did not happen. The major opposition party is recklessly dragging the National Assembly." He particularly condemned the opposition by referring to the 18th National Assembly when the Grand National Party held 153 seats and the Democratic Party 81 seats, but the temporary session was not convened due to no agreement on the agenda, and the Speaker and Deputy Speakers were not elected.

However, the opposition proceeded with a solo vote and elected Woo Won-shik of the Democratic Party of Korea (5-term, Nowon Gap) as the Speaker for the first half of the 22nd National Assembly. This is the first time that the opposition party has opened the National Assembly and elected the Speaker alone.

On the 5th, when the first plenary session of the 22nd National Assembly was held, members of the People Power Party held a protest rally at the entrance of the plenary hall, saying, "The Democratic Party should stop unilateral parliamentary dominance without agreement." Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

While the plenary session was ongoing, senior ruling party lawmakers continued to denounce the opposition in the Rotunda Hall. Bae Jun-young, the senior deputy floor leader, gave the first condemnation speech, saying, "Even the election to select the Speaker, who represents the National Assembly as the head of the legislative branch, has been reduced to a Democratic Party caucus."

Joo Ho-young and Cho Kyung-tae, the most senior six-term lawmakers of the ruling party, added their voices. Joo said, "Democracy without tolerance and concession cannot succeed. If you just push through because you have the numbers and decide by simple majority, what is the need for a parliament and what is the need for debate?" Cho also said, "Running the National Assembly as they please is dictatorship itself. Do they have the right to call the Yoon Seok-yeol government a prosecutorial dictatorship? We must strongly condemn the Democratic Party, which directly denies parliamentary democracy and destroys it."

Yoon Jae-ok, a former floor leader, said, "At the end of the 21st National Assembly, the leverage for negotiation between the ruling and opposition parties was the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and the Steering Committee, so negotiation was at least possible," and criticized, "Now the Democratic Party, after winning overwhelmingly in this election, is discarding even the experience of bipartisan negotiation in the 21st National Assembly and seems determined to recklessly rush forward with the power of numbers as it starts the 22nd National Assembly."

Kim Ki-hyun, a former party leader, said, "When President Kim Dae-jung was the opposition leader, he proposed distributing standing committee chairmanships according to the number of seats, which became the origin of distributing committee chairs based on seat distribution," and argued, "The Democratic Party says to follow the law, so naturally, the People Power Party should take the chairmanships of the Steering Committee and the Legislation and Judiciary Committee according to the law."

Na Kyung-won, considered a next party leadership contender, pointed out, "During the Grand National Party era, even though it was a huge ruling party, it took 88 days to organize the committees. When we were the minority opposition party, we actually conceded that it would be better for the ruling party to have the Speaker, effectively yielding."

People from the People Power Party are picketing in front of the National Assembly plenary session hall on the 5th, ahead of attending the first plenary session of the 22nd National Assembly. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

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