Seoul: The ruling Democratic Party (DP)-controlled National Assembly elected the chiefs of 10 parliamentary standing committees and a special budget committee, despite opposition from the main opposition People Power Party (PPP).
According to Yonhap News Agency, the chiefs of 11 committees, including the judiciary committee and the special committee on budget and accounts, were chosen during a plenary session. This decision followed a failure between the ruling and main opposition parties to agree on the formation of parliamentary standing committees for the second half of the National Assembly. The DP unilaterally recommended candidates for these positions, leading to criticism and a boycott of the plenary session by the PPP.
The PPP has vowed not to cooperate with the activation of the standing committees, as tensions rise between the rival parties. The disagreement centers on the distribution of parliamentary committee chairmanships, particularly focusing on the judiciary committee, a crucial panel with the power to approve bills before a plenary vote. Despite last-minute talks between DP floor leader Han Byung-do and PPP counterpart Rep. Jeong Jeom-sig, no compromise was reached.
Jeong expressed concerns about the balance of power, stating that "checks and balances would be undermined" without the PPP chairing the judiciary committee. The DP's majority of 161 out of 300 seats in the Assembly allowed them to unilaterally elect the committee chiefs, a move the PPP condemned as unilateral and protested through a document filed with the National Assembly.
As the rival parties remain at loggerheads over the election of chairs for the 11 committees, the process for selecting chairs for the remaining seven committees is anticipated to be equally contentious.