▲ Filibuster Continues Over Abolition of Supplementary Investigation Rights
Rival parties are bracing for a head-on collision during the August extraordinary session of the National Assembly.
The Democratic Party of Korea, which aims to complete legislative tasks for government policy goals by the end of the year, is pushing to revise the National Assembly Act and other measures to speed up the legislative process, while the People Power Party is protesting and announcing plans to block them.
In addition, although a special counsel bill targeting the National Election Commission was passed through a bipartisan agreement, nervous tension is expected during the recommendation process for the special counsel, which is seen as another factor likely to accelerate the confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties.
Differences between the parties also persist over the issue of recounting votes at the Songpa-gu counting center, an issue handled by a parliamentary special committee on state investigation.
Under the National Assembly Act, the August extraordinary session is automatically convened on the 16th, but because the People Power Party demanded that the extraordinary session proceed starting from the 2nd, the session's term began on this day.
However, given that early August is the peak vacation season and the Democratic Party is holding its August 17 national convention, full operation is expected to take place around the time of the convention.
This is because, with the Democratic Party holding regional circuit primaries every weekend, the ruling party's lawmakers and members are heavily focused on the neck-and-neck party leadership race.
Consequently, speculations within the Democratic Party suggest that a plenary session of the National Assembly could be held as early as the 13th.
Once the August assembly gets underway, the revision bill for the National Assembly Act aimed at shortening the review period for fast-tracked bills—which was submitted to the plenary session on the final day of the July extraordinary session—is expected to be handled first.
Regarding the bill to reduce the fast-track period from a maximum of 330 days to 90 days, the People Power Party launched a filibuster, but as the July extraordinary session came to an end, only a vote remains for the first plenary session in August.
The Democratic Party is also picking up the pace in pushing for the so-called bill to strengthen filibuster requirements.
This revision bill to the National Assembly Act, which lowers the motion requirement for ending a filibuster from one-third to one-fifth of registered lawmakers and allows the National Assembly Speaker to suspend a meeting if the number of present lawmakers falls short of the quorum during unlimited debates, was submitted to the full meeting of the National Assembly House Steering Committee on July 27 and referred to a subcommittee.
Following a series of revisions to the National Assembly Act, the Democratic Party plans to speed up livelihood legislation through the end of the year.
The Democratic Party's stance is that revising the National Assembly Act is inevitable, as the People Power Party has signaled filibusters not only on contentious bills but on all bills submitted to the plenary session—including livelihood legislation—thereby pressing the government and the ruling party, which desperately need legislation for smooth state administration.
During the August extraordinary session, battles are also expected between the ruling and opposition parties over the implementation of the National Election Commission special counsel bill, which cleared the National Assembly hurdle on July 30 following an agreement between the sides.
The two sides are expected to clash right away over the recommendation of the special counsel, which is a prerequisite for launching the probe.
The special counsel bill decided to recommend two special counsel candidates to the president through a public recommendation committee, but disagreements were anticipated from the composition of the committee—which allots three recommendations each to the ruling and opposition parties—to the operation of the committee itself.
The parties are also at odds over the scope of the special counsel's investigation; the Democratic Party maintains that the investigation scope is limited to the June 3 local elections, while the People Power Party interprets it as potentially expanding to past elections, including last year's presidential election as well as the local elections.
Differences between the rival parties also continue over the timing and method of the vote recount at the Songpa-gu counting center.
The Democratic Party maintains that the recount should be conducted on the 18th by the National Assembly's Special Committee on State Administration, which has had its operational period extended.
The People Power Party holds the position that an open recount must be conducted under the observation of the National Election Commission special counsel, and believes the schedule should be adjusted accordingly if necessary.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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