Rival parties move to select new floor leaders ahead of next National Assembly

Politics

Published: 05 May. 2024, 17:29

Rival parties move to select new floor leaders ahead of next National Assembly

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, fifth from left, claps next to the party's floor leader-elect Park Chan-dae at the National Assembly on Friday, shortly after Park gave his acceptance speech. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Both of Korea's main political parties are set to have new floor leaders as they gear up for the opening of the 22nd National Assembly at the end of the month.

The liberal Democratic Party (DP) on Friday elected a three-term lawmaker closely aligned with leader Lee Jae-myung as its new floor leader on Thursday, while the conservative People Power Party (PPP) is scheduled to hold a vote for a new floor leader on Thursday.

Rep. Park Chan-dae, a member of the DP’s Supreme Council, was named floor leader at a meeting of the party’s sitting lawmakers on Friday.

Park ran uncontested for the post.

During his acceptance speech the same day, Park promised to steer the DP’s parliamentary majority in tandem with Lee, whom he characterized as the most appropriate person to reform the party.

The DP won a 175-seat majority in the 300-member National Assembly in the April 10 general election, securing liberal control over the legislature for the second consecutive time.

Its rival, the conservative People Power Party (PPP), won just 108 seats.

The PPP is scheduled to hold its own floor leadership election on Thursday to replace Rep. Yun Jae-ok, who has also served as the party’s interim leader after its crushing defeat in the election.

The two parties are expected to clash over a special counsel probe bill passed by the DP last week to investigate allegations that the Defense Ministry interfered with an official probe into the drowning of a young Marine during flood rescue operations last year.

The DP railroaded the bill through the National Assembly on Thursday, prompting the PPP to request that President Yoon Suk Yeol exercise his veto.

The presidential office has signaled that Yoon is likely to reject the bill.

At Park’s appointment ceremony on Friday, the DP adopted a resolution to force another parliamentary vote on the bill once the new legislature convenes on May 30.

Together with former Justice Minister Cho Kuk’s Rebuilding Korea Party, the DP will likely be able to muster at least 187 votes — just 13 votes shy of a two-thirds majority to override the president’s veto.

At least two PPP lawmakers have suggested they could vote for the special counsel probe bill if it is vetoed by Yoon, whose persistently low approval ratings are believed to have dragged the party down in the general election.

But the president is not alone in his unpopularity.

In a survey conducted by the National Barometer Survey, only 29 percent of respondents said they approved of the DP, with 31 percent expressing support for the PPP. The Rebuilding Party received 12 percent support, followed by the conservative Reform Party at 4 percent.

Another survey conducted by Media Research found that only 31.9 percent of respondents supported the DP, compared to 32 percent who supported the PPP.

The recent surveys contrast sharply with an opinion poll conducted by Realmeter a week after the 2020 general election in which 52.6 percent of respondents expressed support for the DP.

In an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo, Myungji University professor Shin Yul said the DP’s dour post-election polling shows “the liberal opposition’s victory was not the result of any love for the DP, but the consequence of President Yoon’s unpopularity and the widespread sentiment that his administration needed to be punished.”

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]