The People Power Party announced on the 28th that it would push for a temporary national investigation by the National Assembly into the Central Election Management Commission and the introduction of a personnel hearing for the commission's secretary general.
Kweon Seong-dong, the floor leader, said at a briefing held at the National Assembly on the morning of the same day, “We need to introduce a temporary national investigation law for the Central Election Management Commission, granting investigation and sanction authority akin to the Board of Audit and Inspection, to correct corruption and irregularities” and added, “To strengthen oversight of the commission, we will also introduce a personnel hearing for the secretary general, who is responsible for its day-to-day operations.”
He continued, “Trust in the commission reflects trust in the democratic system, and the commission must be more transparent and fair than any other organization.” However, he noted, “The current state of the commission is worse than any organization in South Korea. It is a situation where self-cleansing ability cannot be expected.”
He also strongly criticized the Constitutional Court's decision that the Board of Audit and Inspection's oversight of the commission was unconstitutional and illegal.
The floor leader pointed out, “The 'mafia commission' should not mistaken that it received a blank check to continue committing irregularities freely after repeatedly causing suffering to ordinary people and the youth due to hiring corruption.”
He emphasized, “The Constitutional Court should not be misinterpreted as acknowledging a sanctuary for misconduct simply because it is excluded from the oversight of the Board of Audit and Inspection. It is clear that this does not mean excluding national investigations and audits by the National Assembly, which represents the people, or external controls by investigative agencies,” and added, “The ball is now back in the court of the National Assembly.”
He highlighted, “Moving forward, the People Power Party will complement the institutional mechanisms to monitor and oversee the all-powerful mafia commission at the party level.”
Representative Cho Eun-hee, ruling party's member of the National Assembly's Administrative Safety Committee, argued that “the National Assembly needs to strengthen legal principles to impose stricter penalties on the commission even if it requires amending the constitution to completely reform the commission,” and expressed concern that “the issues of the commission have reached a level of national crisis beyond partisan or ideological accusations.”
Same party's Representative Park Soo-young stated, “The president's martial law has (rather) given greater legitimacy.”
Representative Park noted, “If the commission is independent to the point that the Board of Audit and Inspection cannot investigate it, it implies that there is no way to check it except for martial law.”
He added, “To say that it is an independent organization under the constitution and that no one should touch it shows a very shallow understanding of our constitution,” and asked, “If the Board of Audit and Inspection cannot even look into a commission that has become a second 'Cho Kuk’ incident by appointing many relatives while it claims to be a family company, who can catch the rampant corruption?”
Additionally, the People Power Party proposed to the Democratic Party to hold an urgent question session regarding the commission on the 5th of next month.
The floor leader said, “The hearing for commission members on March 6 should proceed as planned, and I will request the Democratic Party to hold an emergency meeting even on the 5th, the day before, to discuss how to resolve this issue and what institutional mechanisms to create.”
The People Power Party also stated that it has requested to summon former secretary general Park Chan-jin and former secretary Bang Beom-seok as witnesses in the personnel hearing for the commission scheduled for the 6th of next month, amid allegations of hiring corruption involving their children.