The ruling Democratic Party and the opposition People Power Party reached an agreement on July 30 regarding a special investigation law aimed at uncovering the circumstances surrounding the shortage of ballots during the June 3 local elections. The law, which will allow for an investigation into the Central Election Commission, is expected to be processed in the afternoon session of the National Assembly.
During a meeting of the floor leaders at the National Assembly, the two parties finalized the special investigation law to address the ballot shortage issue. Attendees included Han Byeong-do, the acting leader of the Democratic Party, and Cheon Jun-ho, the party's floor operations chief, along with Jung Jeom-sik, the floor leader of the People Power Party, and Kim Seung-soo, the party's floor operations chief.
After the meeting, Cheon Jun-ho told reporters, "Both parties have reached an agreement on the special investigation law. The key issues were the targets and scope of the investigation, which caused some delays in the discussions."
He added that the agreed-upon details would be communicated to the legislative committee's secretaries, stating, "The secretaries will work on drafting the provisions. I believe it will be completed swiftly."
Kim Seung-soo also noted, "Since the two parties have reached an agreement on the main issues, we have decided to process the special investigation law in the afternoon session. However, the specific investigation targets will need to go through the legislative committee's drafting process, so it is not appropriate to discuss them now."
Additionally, the two parties decided to extend the activities of the special committee investigating the Election Commission, which is set to conclude on July 31.
Cheon Jun-ho mentioned that they agreed to extend the deadline to July 30, stating, "The purpose of the continued investigation is to conduct a recount of the ballots at the Olympic Park counting center."
Kim Seung-soo emphasized, "There are reasons for the recount at Olympic Park, and given the various allegations related to the Election Commission, both parties agreed on the need for an extension."
Meanwhile, the agreement on the special investigation law between the ruling and opposition parties is likely to delay the National Assembly session originally scheduled for 2 p.m.
In response to a question about whether the session could still start at 2 p.m. given the legislative committee's drafting process, Cheon Jun-ho said, "I requested cooperation from National Assembly Speaker Jung Jin-seok to hold the session at 3 p.m. I believe the Speaker will proceed accordingly."
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.