▲ National Election Commission (NEC)
A parliamentary investigation will be conducted for 45 days into the ballot shortage incident that occurred during the June 3 local elections.
To facilitate this, the ruling and opposition parties have agreed to form a special committee with an equal number of members from both sides, with the People Power Party (PPP) taking the chairmanship.
Cheon Jun-ho, senior deputy floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Kim Seung-soo, senior deputy floor leader of the People Power Party, agreed today (June 16) to process the parliamentary investigation plan, which includes these details, at the plenary session the day after tomorrow (June 18).
After meeting with Kim at the office of the National Assembly Steering Committee chairman this afternoon, Cheon stated, "We agreed to proceed with the parliamentary investigation to swiftly uncover the truth regarding the infringement of citizens' voting rights caused by the ballot shortage and to establish an institutional foundation for a major reform of the National Election Commission."
The official title of the investigation is the "Parliamentary Investigation into the Truth of Voting Rights Infringement, Such as the Ballot Shortage, and for Election Management," and the target agencies are the National Election Commission and its regional offices.
The special committee will consist of 9 members from the Democratic Party, 7 from the People Power Party, and 2 from non-negotiating groups. The investigation period is set for 45 days, with the possibility of an extension if necessary.
Kim explained, "Since this is a parliamentary investigation into a matter of public interest where there is no major disagreement between the ruling and opposition parties, we decided on an equal number of members. We initially set the period at 45 days to ensure the investigation proceeds as quickly as possible," adding, "We have agreed to extend it if further investigation is required."
He further emphasized, "Regarding the summoning of witnesses, the ruling and opposition parties have agreed to actively cooperate in calling the Minister of the Interior and Safety, officials from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and local government officials from the cities, counties, and districts where the ballot shortage occurred," adding, "We have reached a consensus to allow for a thorough investigation of the relevant agencies without any restrictions."
Meanwhile, the ruling and opposition parties also discussed the formation of the National Assembly's standing committees today but reaffirmed their differences in position.
Cheon stated, "We believe the Democratic Party should chair the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, and we maintain that we should also lead the economic standing committees, given our responsibility for state affairs," adding, "We will do our best to ensure the committee formation is completed by the plenary session on the 18th."
Kim also said, "Considering the precedent where the majority party held the speaker position and the opposition party held the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, we have strongly expressed our position that the opposition party should lead the Legislation and Judiciary Committee." He added, "Shouldn't the opposition party also take the chairs of economic-related standing committees to ensure checks and balances and pass bills that are helpful to the public?"
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.