Lee Jun-seok pledges cooperation to prevent Democratic Party's unilateralism in Assembly
Jeong Jeom-sik, the newly elected floor leader of the People Power Party, met with Reform Party leadership Monday to seek a joint opposition front against the Lee Jae Myung government.
Jeong held talks with Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok and floor leader Cheon Ha-ram at the party's leader's office in the National Assembly. He said a special prosecutor bill to drop charges against Lee Jae Myung and the ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections were among the most pressing issues requiring a united response. "I ask that the Reform Party join us in standing against the runaway actions of the Lee Jae Myung administration," he said.
Lee Jun-seok welcomed the overture, saying there would be many areas for cooperation in pushing back against what he called the government's policy excesses, including the special prosecutor bill. "Above all, it is important to prevent the Democratic Party-centered unilateralism from repeating itself in the operation of the National Assembly," he said.
Cheon echoed the sentiment on the special prosecutor issue, saying many citizens had sent a clear warning through the local elections. "We hope the Lee Jae Myung government does not act rashly," he said. "If it does, we must join forces to stop it by any means necessary."
The Reform Party also directed pointed remarks at the PPP, however. Lee said past attempts at broad opposition cooperation had repeatedly stalled or lost momentum over minor disputes before reaching any conclusion.
Cheon also urged Jeong to keep a close watch within PPP leadership to ensure the ballot shortage issue was not steered toward partisan point-scoring or claims of election fraud.
After the meeting, PPP senior floor spokesperson Choi Su-jin told reporters the two sides had discussed inviting the Reform Party to actively participate in a National Election Commission special prosecutor investigation or parliamentary investigation that would include non-negotiating bloc parties. She added, however, that the question of by-elections was not discussed.
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