picture explanation,
Han Dong-hoon, chairman of the People Power Party’s emergency response committee and general election committee, is announcing his resignation as chairman at the central party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul on the morning of the 11th.
Article related information
- Reporter, Lee Seon-wook
- Reporter, BBC Korea
-
3 hours ago
As the 22nd general election ended with a landslide victory for the pan-opposition party, attention is focused on how the Yoon Seok-yeol government will continue to run state affairs going forward.
As a result of the vote count on the 11th, the Democratic Party of Korea won 161 out of 254 constituencies, achieving a single majority. If you combine the 14 proportional representation seats of the Democratic Party of Korea (the Democratic Alliance of Korea) and the 12 proportional representation seats of the Fatherland Innovation Party, there are more than 180 seats that can be used to fast-track the bill alone.
On the other hand, the People Power Party and the People’s Future only occupied 108 seats (90 constituency seats, 18 proportional representation seats) out of a total of 300 seats. From the People Power Party’s perspective, there is an atmosphere that the ‘worst’ has been avoided.
This is because the ‘constitutional amendment blocking line’ and the ‘impeachment blocking line’ were barely maintained. The constitutional amendment blocking line refers to the minimum number of seats, 101, to prevent one party from independently amending the constitution.
The exit poll results of the three broadcasting companies announced immediately after the end of voting on the 10th showed that the expected number of seats was around 100, so the People Power Party, which expected the worst result, is at least relieved by this result.
However, as the opposition party with 187 seats is larger than the 21st National Assembly, which was called the ‘super opposition party’, the burden on the ruling party and President Yoon on sensitive issues such as constitutional amendments and the exercise of veto rights on bills has increased.
Will the presidential veto continue in the future?
picture explanation,
President Yoon has exercised his veto power nine times to date.
In this election, both the ruling and opposition parties have been paying attention to whether the opposition party can secure 200 seats and the ruling party can secure 100 seats. This is because if there are more than 200 seats, the President’s right to veto bills, which is his inherent authority, can virtually be neutralized.
At a campaign rally in Busan on the 9th, Cho Kuk, the leader of the Fatherland Innovation Party, appealed for votes to neutralize the president’s veto, saying, “If the pan-opposition party wins 200 seats, the first thing we will do is reject the veto exercised by President Yoon.”
Previously, on the 8th, Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, said at a meeting of the party’s central election committee, “Please leave at least the right of veto for the president to stop the opposition party’s dictatorship of the National Assembly,” and “Please protect the minimum number of seats to prevent the opposition party from overcrowding.” .
The Constitution guarantees the president’s right to veto bills to ensure separation of powers. The President has the power to veto a bill passed by the National Assembly and request that the National Assembly reconsider it.
A rejected bill is re-approved by the National Assembly and becomes confirmed if it is passed with the approval of more than two-thirds of the registered members. Therefore, if you win more than 200 seats, you will have enormous ‘power’ to legislate, effectively neutralizing the president’s veto power.
picture explanation,
Cho Kuk, leader of the Fatherland Innovation Party, said he would ‘reject the presidential veto’ if the opposition party wins more than 200 seats in this general election.
As a result of this general election, it is virtually difficult for the opposition party to reconsider the bill alone. However, if there are even a few departure votes from the ruling party, the likelihood that the rejected bill will be passed again increases.
President Yoon, who has already been controversial for exercising his veto on several occasions, now faces the burden of exercising his veto in the future.
President Yoon has exercised his veto power nine times to date. Although there is still more than half of his term left, this is the largest number of times among all presidents. President Yoon requested reconsideration of bills passed by the National Assembly, including the ‘Yellow Bag Act’, ‘Grain Act Amendment’, ‘Itaewon Special Prosecutor Act’, and ‘Special Prosecutor Kim Geon-hee Act’.
There is also a growing possibility that the opposition party will push for a bill that President Yoon has already vetoed.
At a press conference held in front of the prosecutors’ office on the 11th, Representative Cho Kuk said that the prosecutors should “investigate Kim Kun-hee” and that if they do not do so, “we will push for the ‘Comprehensive Special Prosecutor Act on Ms. Kim’ as soon as the 22nd National Assembly opens.”
On the morning of the 11th, Tae-seon Kim, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea in Dong-gu, Ulsan, expressed his ambition in his election speech, saying, “I will join the National Assembly Environment and Labor Committee and take the lead in re-promoting the Yellow Envelope Act.”
We barely managed to keep the line blocking constitutional amendments, but what are the chances of constitutional amendments?
Depending on the results of this election, attention will also be paid to whether the Constitution will be amended during the term of the 22nd National Assembly. Although the People Power Party has defended the ‘constitutional amendment blocking line’, political pressure for constitutional amendment is expected to intensify.
A bill to amend the Constitution can only be passed if more than two-thirds of the registered members of the National Assembly agree, and it can only be blocked if more than 101 seats are secured.
The Moon Jae-in administration pushed for the 10th constitutional amendment in 2018, at the beginning of its term, but the passage of this amendment failed due to a lack of quorum. At the time, 192 members, or two-thirds of the 288 registered members, were the quorum for the decision, but due to the absence of the four opposition parties at the time, including the Liberty Korea Party, Bareunmirae Party, Party for Democracy and Peace, and the Justice Party, only 114 people participated in the vote, so the vote did not take place.
The People Power Party, with 108 seats, was able to single-handedly block the constitutional amendment in the 22nd National Assembly, but if the constitutional amendment was promoted under the leadership of the opposition party, a large political burden became inevitable.
picture explanation,
Lee Jae-myeong, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, has repeatedly called for a ‘one-point constitutional amendment’ ahead of the general election, saying, ‘The 22nd general election is the right time to amend the constitution.’
Previously, Lee Jae-myeong, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, proposed a ‘one-point’ constitutional amendment to incorporate the spirit of May 18 into the Constitution. Representative Lee said at the National Assembly in May last year, “It is time to keep the May 18 spirit, which was President Yoon Seok-yeol’s pledge and the Democratic Party’s pledge, in the full text of the Constitution,” and added, “The government and the ruling party will cooperate so that the ‘one-point constitutional amendment’ can be done in time for next year’s general election.” “I ask you to do it and make an official proposal,” he said.
Han Dong-hoon, former chairman of the People Power Party’s Emergency Response Committee, also visited Gwangju last January and expressed his position, saying, “I actively support including the ‘May 18 Spirit’ in the preamble to the Constitution,” and it is expected that constitutional amendment will be promoted as Representative Lee Jae-myung declared. In this case, the ruling party was in a difficult position to actively oppose.
However, even if the 22nd National Assembly passes a constitutional amendment, it does not mean that the Constitution will be finally changed. This is because the final decision on whether to amend the Constitution is made through a national referendum. If a constitutional amendment is passed by the National Assembly, a national referendum is held within 30 days. At this time, a majority of voters participate, and only if a majority of voters agree, the constitutional amendment is finally passed.
Throughout President Yoon’s term, ‘Russia’s opposition’… for the first time since democratization
If the 22nd National Assembly goes according to the results, President Yoon Seok-yeol, who took office in 2022 when the ruling party was already in the ruling party, has increased the possibility of finishing his entire term in the ruling party and the minor opposition party. This is the first time since the direct election system was amended in 1987.
After democratization, past presidents alternately experienced the ruling party’s ruling party and the ruling party’s opposition party. If a regime change occurred while the ruling party was the majority party, the new ruling party would naturally become a minority party, and most commonly, the ruling party would become the majority party again through a general election in the middle of the president’s term.
During the Roh Tae-woo and Kim Young-sam administrations, the ruling party secured a majority of seats through merger. In 1998, during the Kim Dae-jung administration, when the ruling party at the time, the New Millennium Democratic Party, lost to the Grand National Party in the general election, it secured a majority of seats through a coalition government with the United Liberal Democrats.
However, in this election, the opposition party has an overwhelming advantage, so the possibility of securing a majority of seats through a merger or coalition is extremely low.
Attention is being paid to how the Yoon Seok-yeol government, which inevitably suffered a major political blow as a result of this election, will handle state affairs in the future.
2024-04-11 06:45:55
#result #22nd #general #election #panopposition #party #won #landslide #victory.. #President #Yoon #exercise #veto #future #BBC #News #Korea
