The Democratic Party announced plans on June 30 to elect committee chairs for 11 committees, including the Judiciary Committee, prompting the People Power Party to respond with resignations from committee positions.
The People Power Party stated, "National Assembly Speaker Cho Jung-sik has forcibly appointed 11 committee members (including the Operations, Judiciary, Political Affairs, Finance, Science and Technology, National Defense, Interior and Safety, Culture and Sports, Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Climate, Energy, Environment, and Labor, and Budget and Accounts committees) and notified us of these appointments." They added that they submitted a formal request for the resignation of their members to the National Assembly's Secretariat.
The Democratic Party and the People Power Party have engaged in multiple negotiations regarding the formation of the National Assembly for the second half of the term, but they have been unable to reach an agreement over the Judiciary Committee.
Speaker Cho also met with the floor leaders of both parties and requested the submission of the committee member list, subsequently introducing the idea of forced distribution. However, the People Power Party has expressed strong opposition, calling it a unilateral notification.
In response, the Democratic Party plans to hold a plenary session to elect committee chairs for the 11 committees. Cheon Jun-ho, the Democratic Party's Deputy Floor Leader, stated after announcing the list of committee chairs, "We have decided that the Democratic Party will take 11 committees based on the ratio of seats."
However, some critics argue that this committee formation is somewhat unilateral, as the Democratic Party has secured key economic committees, including the Political Affairs and Finance committees, alongside the Judiciary Committee.
In this context, Cheon noted, "In the first half, the People Power Party held the Political Affairs and Finance committees, but they faced many difficulties in executing national tasks. The processing of bills was quite low, so we judged it would be better for us to take over these committees."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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