'Special prosecutor on election commission to restore public suffrage and electoral trust'
Han Byung-do, acting leader and floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said Tuesday that the party would convene a plenary session that afternoon to complete the second-half Assembly reorganization and confirm the prime minister nominee.
Speaking at a floor strategy meeting at the National Assembly that morning, Han said the Democratic Party could no longer wait for the People Power Party, which he accused of clinging to its demand for the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, refusing to engage in negotiations, failing to submit a committee membership list and flouting the National Assembly Act.
"The PPP, which refused to submit the list and then cried dictatorship when the Assembly speaker exercised authority under the National Assembly Act, is behaving in a way that shows the very bottom of old-style politics — nothing more than throwing tantrums and digging in," Han said.
He also pushed back against the PPP's invocation of customary practice to block the reorganization entirely, despite formal procedures laid out in the National Assembly Act. "If a custom has been abused to the point of becoming a bad habit, shouldn't we change it now in order to build a working National Assembly?" he said.
Han said the Democratic Party would not tolerate what he called the PPP's selective pursuit of committee chairmanships or its attempts to undermine the Assembly speaker. "This reorganization is the first step for the second half of the 22nd National Assembly — a step to support the Lee Jae Myung government and restore people's livelihoods," he said.
He added that the party would complete the reorganization in accordance with National Assembly Act procedures so that "this first step can lead to a great leap forward for the Republic of Korea," and said the focus in electing committee chairs would be on getting all standing committees into operation immediately.
Meanwhile, on the Democratic Party's decision to adopt a special prosecutor investigation into the National Election Commission's ballot shortage as official party policy, Han urged the PPP to stop calling for a re-election — which he dismissed as an empty political slogan — and instead join efforts to uncover the truth and hold those responsible accountable. "The Democratic Party will do its utmost through a special prosecutor to thoroughly investigate the facts and restore the public's right to participate in elections and trust in the electoral process," he said.
sunpine@heraldcorp.com
