[Anchor]
At the National Assembly, a filibuster has been ongoing overnight as a bill to amend the Second Comprehensive Special Counsel Act, which would extend the investigation period, was brought to the plenary session under the leadership of the pan-opposition bloc. While the People Power Party (PPP) claims this is political suppression of the opposition, the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) argues that the PPP is paralyzing the National Assembly with its filibuster and has signaled plans to revise the National Assembly Act.
Reporter Ha Jeongyeon reports.
[Reporter]
The People Power Party (PPP) began an unlimited debate, or filibuster, yesterday (July 20) afternoon after the pan-opposition bloc led the motion to bring the amendment to the Second Comprehensive Special Counsel Act to the plenary session.
Protesting that the government has been focused solely on "special counsel investigations intended to suppress the opposition" for over 400 days since the launch of the Lee Jae-myung administration, the PPP has been conducting the filibuster for 21 hours.
The Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has warned of a revision to the National Assembly Act, stating that the PPP is bringing the National Assembly to a standstill with a filibuster that lacks justification, following their boycott of standing committee meetings.
[Han Byung-do / DPK Floor Leader: "We will not stand by and allow time for public livelihood and reform to be wasted any further due to the People Power Party's irresponsible boycotts and nonsensical filibusters."]
The DPK intends to pursue institutional improvements, such as allowing the Speaker of the National Assembly to terminate a debate if the number of members present during an unlimited debate falls below one-fifth of the total registered members.
The PPP criticized the extension of the Second Comprehensive Special Counsel, calling it a "political retaliation investigation" that only wastes national investigative resources, and warned that there would be consequences if the DPK forces the bill through.
[Jung Jeom-sik / PPP Floor Leader: "Today, the Democratic Party will terminate the filibuster and force the passage of the Comprehensive Special Counsel Act with cheers. However, the price for politics trampling on the rule of law will surely return to the Democratic Party."]
The DPK plans to forcibly end the filibuster through a vote around 2:00 PM today, when the unlimited debate reaches the 24-hour mark, and then push for the passage of the special counsel amendment.
However, ending a filibuster requires the consent of at least 180 members of the pan-opposition bloc. The Rebuilding Korea Party, which has been at odds with the DPK over its cautious stance on prosecution reform, is increasing pressure by stating that "automatic cooperation is difficult," which is expected to be a key variable.
(Video reporting: Lee Seung-hwan, Kim Yong-woo | Video editing: Yoo Mi-ra)
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