PPP elects former Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho as floor leader

Politics

Published: 09 May. 2024, 18:06

PPP elects former Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho as floor leader

Rep. Choo Kyung-ho, the conservative People Power Party's new floor leader-elect, delivers his acceptance speech at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Thursday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Lawmakers from the conservative People Power Party (PPP) elected former finance minister and two-term lawmaker Choo Kyung-ho as their new floor leader during a general meeting at the National Assembly on Thursday.

Choo was elected with support from 70 out of 108 PPP lawmakers who won seats in the 22nd National Assembly, which is due to open at the end of the month.

A total of 102 lawmakers voted in the floor leadership race, which was also contested by Reps. Lee Jong-bae and Song Seog-jun, who won 21 and 11 votes.

Choo has represented Daegu’s Dalseong constituency in the National Assembly since he first won election in 2016.

He served as President Yoon Suk Yeol’s first finance minister and deputy minister for economic affairs from May 2022 to December last year.

He also served under President Park Geun-hye as first deputy finance minister from March 2013 to July 2014, when he was appointed minister for government and policy coordination.

Though he is considered an ally of the president, Choo is well-respected within the PPP for his expertise in finance and macroeconomic policy, according to party insiders.

In his first comments to PPP lawmakers after he was elected, Choo called on party members to “stand firm and together” to check the power of the liberal Democratic Party (DP), which secured a 175-seat majority in the National Assembly in the general election held on April 10.

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

The floor leader-elect warned that the DP would likely “look for weakness and hesitation” within the PPP’s ranks and urged the party’s lawmakers to “stick together.”

Choo also promised to transform the PPP into a “healthy, reliable political party that looks after people’s livelihoods” and vowed to “build a strong relationship” between the party and the Yoon administration.

Observers widely believe the president’s low approval ratings and gaffes dragged down the PPP, which ended up securing just 108 seats in the election.

As floor leader, Choo faces the challenges of maintaining party discipline and preventing defections that could undermine Yoon’s vetoes against bills spearheaded by the DP.

If the president rejects a bill passed by the DP-controlled National Assembly — as he will most likely do with its latest bill to appoint a special counsel to investigate the death of a young Marine during flood rescue operations last summer — the liberal bloc can only override his veto with some support from PPP lawmakers.

With Choo’s election, both major parties’ parliamentary contingents are set to be led by floor leaders closely aligned to their respective flagbearers.

The previous week, the DP elected Rep. Park Chan-dae, an ally of party leader Lee Jae-myung, as its new floor leader.

During a DP Supreme Council meeting on Wednesday, Park called on the president to acquiesce to the party’s plan to distribute cash handouts of 250,000 won ($180) to every person and a special counsel probe into the Defense Ministry’s handling of a Marine's death.

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