People Power Party on Rejection of Na Kyung-won as Executive Secretary: "Legislation and Judiciary Committee Has Degraded Into a Democratic Party Playground"

Na: "Choo Mi-ae Goes Further Than Jung Chung-rae... A New History of Parliamentary Dictatorship Written"

People Power Party members of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee hold a press conference after the appointment of Rep. Na Kyung-won as the party's executive secretary was rejected at a plenary session of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 16th. (Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Hwang Kwang-mo. 2025.9.16 hkmpooh@yna.co.kr

The People Power Party criticized the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 16th, stating that by blocking the appointment of Representative Na Kyung-won as the opposition's executive secretary under the lead of the Democratic Party, the committee has "degraded into a Democratic Party playground."

Immediately after the rejection of her appointment, Rep. Na met with reporters and said, "The Democratic Party has written another chapter in the history of parliamentary dictatorship. They have marked another milestone in legislative tyranny," adding, "Now that Chairman Jung Chung-rae is gone, Chairwoman Choo Mi-ae is taking it even further."

Rep. Shin Dong-wook, a member of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, called the event "a comedy," stating, "I want all citizens to keep their eyes wide open and watch how they set up a polling booth in a standing committee meeting room to vote among themselves to arbitrarily reject an opposition party executive secretary."

Chief Spokesperson Kwak Gyu-taek pointed out in a commentary, "The Democratic Party previously used the 'fast-track collision incident' as an excuse to reject the appointment, and today they blocked it by drumming up allegations of insurrection," adding, "It is ultimately just an intention to manipulate the Legislation and Judiciary Committee as they please."

Spokesperson Kwak noted, "The essential problem with the Democratic Party's avoidance of the executive secretary appointment is that it allows the chairperson and the Democratic Party to operate the committee unilaterally under the pretext that 'they cannot consult because there is no executive secretary,'" adding, "This contradiction of blocking the executive secretary and then using the lack of consultation as an excuse is a behavior that degrades the committee into a playground for their own arbitrary and despotic power."

He further added, "The People Power Party has already initiated legal actions, including filing a petition for a competence dispute adjudication and an injunction to suspend the effect of the decision with the Constitutional Court," and emphasized, "We will continue to take all necessary measures for the sake of the rule of law and the normalization of parliament."

The Legislation and Judiciary Committee held a secret ballot on the appointment of Rep. Na as executive secretary that day, rejecting it with 10 votes against out of 10 total votes. The People Power Party boycotted the vote in protest against the decision to hold a secret ballot. Yonhap News