By Jung Seok-jun, The Herald Business
People Power Party floor leader Jung Seok-jun said Tuesday that negotiations over the second-half National Assembly leadership structure had collapsed after the Democratic Party of Korea rejected an offer that would have let it name the chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.
Speaking to reporters after the ruling and opposition floor leadership talks broke down, Jung said his party had proposed that if the PPP were allocated the chairmanship of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, it would elect whichever candidate the Democratic Party recommended for the post. "We are committed to preserving the Legislation and Judiciary Committee under the conviction that checks and balances must be maintained within the National Assembly," he said.
He went on to say that the Democratic Party appeared set to push through a plenary session alongside the Assembly speaker on Tuesday. "We will convene a general membership meeting to respond," he said.
Asked whether the Democratic Party had offered any other standing committee seats in exchange for the Legislation and Judiciary Committee chairmanship, Jung said the subject never came up at all.
The PPP had ordered all its lawmakers to remain on standby at the Assembly and planned to hold an emergency general membership meeting at 1:30 p.m. to discuss how to respond to the opposition's push to finalize the leadership structure. The meeting was postponed, however, after the plenary session was pushed back to 5 p.m.
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