All Gyeongnam Provincial Council Standing Committee Chairs Go to People Power Party as Democratic Party Continues Boycott

As tensions between the People Power Party and the Democratic Party of Korea deepen over the formation of the leadership structure for the first half of the 13th Gyeongnam Provincial Council, the election of standing committee chairs also proceeded amid the Democratic Party's boycott of the vote, resulting in a second consecutive day of disrupted selections.

On July 7, the Provincial Council held the 2nd plenary session of the 434th extraordinary meeting and elected seven standing committee chairs.

All 23 Democratic Party provincial council members left the chamber immediately after the start of the plenary session, following their boycott of the speaker and vice-speaker elections the previous day, and did not participate in the vote.

The 2nd plenary session of the 434th extraordinary meeting of the Gyeongnam Provincial Assembly is underway. [Photo by Gyeongnam Provincial Assembly]

The 13th Provincial Council consists of a total of 68 members: 44 from the People Power Party, 23 from the Democratic Party, and 1 independent.

With the Democratic Party absent, only People Power Party members remained in the plenary chamber, and seven second-term lawmakers from the same party were elected as standing committee chairs.

The Operations Committee Chair is Park Dongchul, the Planning and Administration Committee Chair is Jang Byungguk, the Education Committee Chair is Jung Jaeuk, the Agriculture, Oceans and Fisheries Committee Chair is Lee Kyungjae, the Economy and Environment Committee Chair is Kim Guyun, the Construction and Firefighting Committee Chair is Jung Ssanghak, and the Culture and Welfare Committee Chair is Kim Soontaek.

Previously, the Democratic Party had demanded one vice-speaker position and two standing committee chair positions based on their 34% share of seats and a precedent set during the 11th council. However, the People Power Party countered by offering one vice-speaker and one standing committee chair position, and the two sides ultimately failed to reach a compromise.

As a result, the People Power Party confirmed ten candidates for the leadership through an internal primary, while the Democratic Party refused to accept the People Power Party's proposal and did not nominate any candidates.

Consequently, on July 6 at the first plenary session of the 434th extraordinary meeting, all 23 Democratic Party lawmakers walked out, and the votes for the speaker and vice-speakers were conducted with only 45 members present.

Park Jun was elected as the speaker for the first half of the term, Shin Jongcheol as the first vice-speaker, and Lee Chanho as the second vice-speaker. All are members of the People Power Party.

The Provincial Council plans to hold the 3rd plenary session of the 434th extraordinary meeting on July 9 to assign members to the standing committees.

Once the standing committee assignments are finalized, the formation of the leadership structure for the first half of the 13th council will be completed.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.