Democratic Party: "We Will Restore Broken Fairness and Common Sense"
People Power Party: "Discussion on Attendance at Plenary Session and Filibuster"
On the 19th, immediately after the Chuseok holiday, the ruling and opposition parties are expected to clash again over key bills. The opposition parties, including the Democratic Party of Korea, announced plans to hold a plenary session to pass the special investigation bills on First Lady Kim Geon-hee and Chae Sang-byeong, as well as the amendment to the local currency law. The People Power Party is strongly considering a filibuster (unlimited debate) to block the bills from being tabled.
Park Chan-dae, the floor leader of the Democratic Party, held a policy coordination meeting at the National Assembly that morning and said, "We will pass the Kim Geon-hee special investigation bill, the fallen marine special investigation bill, and the local love gift certificate law at today's plenary session," emphasizing, "These bills are the people's mandate to restore broken fairness and common sense and the top emergency measure to revive the devastated livelihood."
Earlier, the National Assembly Judiciary Committee passed the three bills, including the Kim Geon-hee special investigation bill, solely by the opposition on the 11th, and attempted to table them in the plenary session on the 12th, the day before the Chuseok holiday. The goal was to pass the special investigation bill along with the local currency law, which includes a 250,000 KRW support for all citizens, to secure public sentiment during Chuseok. However, Speaker Woo Won-shik emphasized focusing on launching the ruling-opposition-government consultation body and proposed postponing the plenary session until after the holiday.
Within the Democratic Party, it was initially reported that they considered tabling and passing the two special investigation bills separately before the holiday and on the 26th plenary session, but they have now decided to handle all of them at once. This is also related to the growing suspicions surrounding First Lady Kim's alleged interference in the April 10 general election nominations. According to a media report on the same day, former People Power Party lawmaker Kim Young-seon reportedly demanded the top proportional representation spot on the Reform New Party list in exchange for exposing Kim Geon-hee's nomination interference allegations. This revealed evidence confirming Kim Geon-hee's involvement in the general election nominations from the former lawmaker.
No Jong-myeon, the Democratic Party's floor spokesperson, told reporters immediately after the meeting, "It seems that today's agenda has been finalized to handle three bills: the Kim Geon-hee special investigation bill, the Chae Sang-byeong special investigation bill, and the local currency support law." Park Chan-dae also hinted at pushing the special investigation bill, stating at the meeting, "If the reports that President Yoon and his wife interfered in the nominations are true, it is a clear crime."
In response, the People Power Party is protesting, saying there was no prior consultation regarding the legislative schedule for the three bills. The party even hinted at possibly boycotting the plenary session that afternoon. Park Jun-tae, the People Power Party floor spokesperson, said in a phone interview, "We are keeping all options open, including attendance at the plenary session and proceeding with a filibuster," adding, "A final decision will be made at the afternoon party meeting."
However, the final decision will consider public fatigue over filibusters. Park added, "We have already conducted filibusters multiple times on the same bills, including the last time," and noted, "Some opinions suggest finding better methods regarding the effectiveness of filibusters."
If the three bills are tabled individually in the plenary session like the previous four broadcasting bills and the People Power Party initiates a filibuster, the Democratic Party plans to use the 'end of debate' right 24 hours after the debate begins to forcibly pass the bills. Considering the possibility of the ruling party launching a filibuster, the Democratic Party has requested all its lawmakers to be on emergency standby until the 22nd.
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