The Democratic Party of Korea at the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly held a press conference on July 2, urging the People Power Party (PPP) to cooperate for the normal opening of the 12th provincial assembly.
During the press conference, the Democratic Party's leadership stated, "The Democratic Party will continue to negotiate with the People Power Party until the very end for a normal opening, but negotiations must be based on the principles of democracy." They further argued, "Attempting to delay the opening over positions while ignoring the overwhelming public sentiment of 144 to 22 is an unreasonable act and a deception of the residents."
They added, "Where we should be looking right now is not at positions, but at the lives of the residents; the public's livelihood will not wait for the assembly. The People Power Party must stop this groundless tug-of-war and join forces for a normal opening." Previously, the Democratic Party and the PPP held two meetings regarding the formation of the assembly, but they have failed to narrow their differences over the position of vice-chair.
It has been customary for the provincial assembly to split the two vice-chair positions, with the Democratic Party and the PPP each taking one.
However, the 12th provincial assembly is composed of an unprecedented majority for the Democratic Party, holding 144 out of 167 total seats, while the People Power Party holds 22 seats and the Rebuilding Korea Party holds 1 seat.
The Democratic Party maintains that since they secured 86.2 percent of the seats, they should take both vice-chair positions, while the People Power Party argues that one seat should be allocated to their negotiating group.