2024-05-14 08:01:57
Choo-Woo Won-sik composition through Jo Jeong-sik and unification… “There was no lining up or coercion.”
“The sentiment of the party and the sentiment of the people are the same… ‘Good politics’ is honoring the sentiment of the people who want reform.”
“Prosecution reform, must be passed according to the Democratic Party’s 2022 revision to the Prosecutor’s Office Act.”
“There is no means of checking the president’s authority… Newly established budget planning authority for the National Assembly.”
“The party’s will is the mind, the mind is the people’s mind, and they are in agreement. “There was no ‘line-up’ or coercion, or authoritarian politics at work, but rather a natural flow (such as unification among lawmakers) was formed like water.”
Choo Mi-ae (Hanam-gap, Gyeonggi-do), the Democratic Party of Korea’s elected candidate who voted for the National Assembly Speaker election in the first half of the 22nd National Assembly, declared on the 12th that she would unify her candidacy with Rep. Jo Jeong-sik. Then, 6-term lawmaker Jo Jeong-sik and 5-term lawmaker Jeong Seong-ho, who are the real Lee Jae-myeong-gye, resigned as candidates for chairman and competed against lawmaker Woo Won-sik.
There are many views that this unification is a natural trend of President-elect Choo and Rep. Cho, who won their sixth term in the April 10 general elections, following the practice of giving opportunities to seniors first. However, when the sudden unification occurred over the weekend after candidate registration, some observed that ‘clear mind’ may have been at work.
In relation to this, President-elect Chu drew a line in a written interview with Newsis on the 14th, saying, “The provisions of the National Assembly Act related to the election of the Speaker of the National Assembly clearly state that priority is given to ‘elders in multiple elections,’ and in that respect, I gained the sympathy of Rep. Cho.”
He emphasized, “If the party sentiment is the same as the public sentiment, and there is a stern order from the people to hope for reform and regain the public sentiment, then good politics is to follow that.”
The ‘unity of the three hearts (party heart, mind, and public sentiment)’ that President-elect Chu emphasizes is connected to the ‘reform National Assembly’, which is the blueprint for the 22nd National Assembly that he envisions. The ‘Reform National Assembly’ focuses on a strong National Assembly that maintains a balance of power between the executive and legislative branches.
If a ‘reform National Assembly’ is created by strengthening the function of checking the executive branch, such as limiting the president’s veto, the ‘strong National Assembly’ that party members, including supporters of Representative Lee Jae-myung, wish for will become a reality, and ultimately the general public will be able to satisfy the public through implementation of legislation for people’s livelihood, President-elect Choo said. It is a plan.
When asked to select one thing he would like to achieve as Speaker of the National Assembly, President-elect Choo said, “Although we are a presidential country, there are almost no means for the National Assembly to check when the president abuses his authority.” He added, “We will strengthen the executive branch by establishing a new budget planning authority for the National Assembly.” “I will achieve balance in the legislative branch,” he said.
In response to the point that the reformed National Assembly may have a gap with the duty of neutrality required of the Speaker of the National Assembly, he said, “In my opinion, the duty of neutrality is the duty of neutrality against (prosecution) dictatorship, and I will be a chairman who is faithful to the mission of protecting the people.”
He said, “The current situation is completely opposite to the time of the authoritarian regime, when the Speaker of the National Assembly was subordinate to the regime and the ruling party and carried out partisan acts.” “As much as he is the father-in-law, the chairman must become the speaker of the National Assembly who protects the people against the ruling party,” he emphasized.
The ‘prosecution reform’ advocated by the Democratic Party and the Fatherland Reform Party is also an important element of the ‘reform National Assembly’ that President-elect Choo calls. President-elect Chu explained, “The powers of investigation and prosecution must be separated, and the prosecution must return to its original role as a prosecution office,” adding, “All we have to do is pass the Democratic Party’s amendment to the Prosecutor’s Office Act in 2022.”
Regarding the case where the Speaker of the National Assembly must act as a mediator in negotiations to form the House of Representatives, where the ruling and opposition parties are expected to clash strongly, President-elect Choo said, “The will of the people who supported the overwhelming majority of seats is important.”
Regarding the Democratic Party’s request for the chairman of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and the Steering Committee, he said, “If the legislative power of the National Assembly is stranded and neutralized through the Legislative and Judiciary Committee, etc., it cannot reflect the public sentiment,” and “The Democratic Party, which is the overwhelming largest party according to public sentiment, naturally has the authority to fulfill its responsibilities.” “We have to work with it,” he emphasized.
Regarding the People Power Party’s criticism that the Democratic Party’s policy of forming the National Assembly is a ‘legislative rush by the large opposition party,’ President-elect Chu refuted the criticism, saying, “It is a frame by the President and the ruling party to create a National Assembly that is left and right.” He also said, “To talk about the 22nd National Assembly, which has not even opened yet, as an overcrowding of the National Assembly or an overload of legislation, is to make people cower like the 21st National Assembly.”
However, he said, “We must seek dialogue with lawmakers from the ruling party who can think rationally and have reasonable alternatives. He said, “Because each member of the National Assembly is a precious constitutional institution, regardless of their political party, before the people, if we appeal to our constitutional conscience, there will be content that can be discussed.”
If President-elect Chu becomes Speaker of the National Assembly in the first half of the year, there is a high possibility that the ‘Chu-Yoon conflict’ will resurface for the first time in four years. In response to voices expressing concern about a confrontational structure between the head of the legislative branch and the head of the executive branch, President-elect Chu countered, saying, “The expression ‘conflict’ itself is a frame.”
He continued, “(2022 Choo-Yoon conflict) As the Minister of Justice at the time, I only disciplined Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol by revealing to the end the suspicions of corruption related to him and his family. Shouldn’t the revelation of wrongdoing be packaged as a conflict?” he said. “Even the people who saw the reality say I was ‘right,’” he emphasized.
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2024-05-14 08:01:57