Jang Je-won, the president-elect’s chief of staff, answers questions from reporters in front of the office of the transition committee in Tongui-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 26th. [이승환 기자]Jang Je-won, the chief of the secretary-general of the president-elect, set a sharp edge as “excessive power” for the National Election Commission’s position that it was impossible for the elected party to propose a so-called “request and complete deprivation of the prosecution’s investigative power”.
Chief of Staff Jang met with reporters in front of the Transmission Committee’s office in Tongui-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 28th and asked, “The National Election Commission is a consensus system.”
He criticized the Democratic Party’s push for enforcement of the ‘Inspection and Completion Act’ the day before and mentioned that he would review ways to ask the people directly through a referendum during the June 1 local election and report it to President-elect Yoon.
Then, the National Election Commission announced that it was impossible to hold a referendum because the list of voters might not be drawn up under the current regulations. As the Constitutional Court previously ruled that Article 14 (1) of the Referendum Act, which restricts the participation of Koreans living abroad, was inconsistent with the Constitution, it would be difficult to hold a referendum before the relevant law was amended.
Article 14 (1) of the Referendum Act, in which the Constitutional Court ruled that the Constitution was unconstitutional by the judges 6 (unconstitutional) to 3 (constitutionality), is a provision dealing with the preparation of the voter list by Koreans overseas. The Constitutional Court said that the reason for the decision to be inconsistent with the provisions was “because it infringes on the voting rights of Koreans living abroad.”
In response, Chief of Staff Jang pointed out, “Is it possible to unilaterally say that it is not the case?”
As to whether or not he had reported to Yoon-elect regarding the ‘examination and complete referendum’, he said, “I haven’t done it yet,” he said.
He emphasized, “If the voter list is sorted out, it is not difficult to legislate (the referendum law),” he said.
“Anyway, I think the President (Moon Jae-in) will exercise his veto power on a bill that is unconstitutional and pushed by the majority, granting non-investigation privileges to lawmakers and public officials that the people do not want,” he said.
Meanwhile, the requirements for a referendum are stipulated in Article 72 of the Constitution. Article 72 stipulates that ‘important policies related to foreign affairs, national defense, unification and other national security may be attached to the referendum’. Accordingly, it seems that the issue is whether the oversight bill falls under an ‘important policy’ in the future. Since the founding of the Republic of Korea, there has never been a referendum on ‘important policies’ under Article 72 of the Constitution except for amendments to the Constitution.
[맹성규 매경닷컴 기자]
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