The National Assembly's Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee conducts a national audit of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries on Oct. 12. [Yonhap]
The National Assembly's Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee conducts a national audit of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries on Oct. 12. [Yonhap]

A bill to change the method of electing the chairman of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation to a direct vote passed a legislative subcommittee of the National Assembly's Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee on Tuesday, pushed through by the Democratic Party of Korea. People Power Party members walked out before the vote to protest what they called a unilateral move by the ruling party.

The bill would introduce a system in which all cooperative members — rather than just cooperative heads — directly elect the federation chairman. It would also establish an independent audit body separate from the federation to strengthen external oversight.

To reduce election costs and strengthen ties between the federation and individual cooperatives, the bill calls for the federation chairman and cooperative heads to be elected simultaneously in a nationwide cooperative election. If the direct-vote system takes effect, the electorate would expand from 1,110 members of an electoral college to about 1.87 million cooperative members.

The Democratic Party said the direct-vote system would enhance democratic representation, while the creation of an independent audit body would improve transparency.

PPP members of the committee held a press conference at the National Assembly that day, criticizing the bill as having been rammed through by the ruling party. "Under the amended cooperative act, government-recommended figures would be placed on the federation's key personnel recommendation body," they said. "The Lee Jae Myung government pressured farmers' livelihoods through a sweeping farmland survey, and now it is trying to bring the cooperative — an autonomous organization — under government control."


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