Democratic Party floor leader hints at unilateral vote on committee posts
Lawmakers put on standby for plenary session
Han Byung-do, acting leader and floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said Monday that the party must make a responsible decision on forming the National Assembly's standing committees, as negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties have stalled.
"There is absolutely no way this will drag past tomorrow," Han said at an emergency general assembly meeting at the National Assembly, referring to the ongoing talks over committee assignments.
He went on to say the party would "complete the second-half assembly committee formation within this month and build a working National Assembly," urging all lawmakers to remain on standby starting Monday afternoon ahead of a possible plenary session.
The ruling and opposition parties have been negotiating over the composition of standing committees for the second half of the 22nd National Assembly, but talks have gone in circles as both sides insist on claiming the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.
Some political observers expect the Democratic Party to convene a plenary session on Tuesday and push through the committee formation agenda unilaterally.
Han also said the party intends to adopt, as an official party position, the pursuit of a special prosecutor investigation into the ballot shortage that occurred during the June 3 local elections.
"Having taken the first step toward uncovering the truth through a parliamentary investigation, an independent special prosecutor investigation is needed to determine whether there was dereliction of duty, false reporting or evasion of responsibility," he said. "We will relentlessly pursue the full truth and push ahead with systemic reforms to prevent a recurrence."
bigroot@heraldcorp.com
