DP unilaterally pick 11 parliamentary committee heads amid ruling party’s boycott

Jun 12, 2024, 10:27 am

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Members of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) hold banners calling for the resignation of parliamentary speaker Woo Won-shik in front of the National Assembly Speaker’s Office as the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) unilaterally elected the chairs of eleven standing committees using its majority in parliament on June 10, 2024./ Source: Yonhap News

AsiaToday reporter Kim Myung-eun

The opposition-led National Assembly has elected the heads of eleven out of 18 standing committees, worsening the political situation. As the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) used its majority in parliament to elect its lawmakers as the chairs of the standing committees, the ruling People Power Party (PPP) is considering boycotting all Assembly meetings.

The DP is putting more pressure on the ruling party by opening a standing committee the day after the vote and threatened to take the remaining seven standing committee chairmanship positions in addition to the eleven they occupied.

According to the political community on Tuesday, a total of 191 lawmakers from the DP and other opposition partieis participated in the vote to elect the chairs of 11 standing committees, including the judiciary, steering and broadcasting committees. It marked the first time in South Korea’s constitutional history that the opposition bloc selected parliamentary committee chiefs in a unilateral vote. In late May, the first plenary meeting of the parliament opened without the ruling party in an unprecedented move.

In the last-minute negotiations on Monday, the PPP proposed a compromise in which the ruling party takes the legislation and judiciary committee and the main opposition DP taking the steering and broadcasting committees, but the DP refused to do so. The PPP failed to overcome its minority of 108 seats in parliament, striving to come up with countermeasures. It held a general meeting on Tuesday to discuss about boycotting all Assembly meetings, but no final decision was made. For now, it decided to hold a general meeting to discuss their activities at the National Assembly without participating in the schedule unilaterally conducted or notified by the DP.

In the meantime, the DP immediately held a standing committee meeting to handle the appointment of an executive secretary, and announced the promotion of hearings, parliamentary investigations, and interpellation sessions.

It also requested a report on the work through the standing committees, and decided to push for a hearing in case of non-compliance.

Rep. Park Chan-dae of the DP asked parliamentary speaker Woo Won-shik to hold a plenary session as soon as possible to form the remaining seven standing committees. The DP plans to hold a plenary session on Thursday at the earliest and push ahead with the election of the remaining seven standing committees.

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