The December extraordinary session of the National Assembly has fully entered a "filibuster political standoff." As the Democratic Party of Korea signaled it would push through contentious bills such as the law to establish a dedicated insurrection tribunal, the People Power Party responded with a filibuster (unlimited debate), saying it would "block the eight evil laws," freezing the political climate again.
On this day, the rival parties agreed to pass only three government guarantee consent bills (Korea Student Aid Foundation bonds, supply chain stabilization fund bonds, and advanced strategic industry fund bonds) out of 62 non-contentious livelihood bills introduced at the National Assembly plenary session. Before the plenary session, the floor leaders of both parties attempted to negotiate the agenda, but the talks fell through.
All of the remaining 59 livelihood bills became subject to a filibuster. The People Power Party has labeled the contentious bills the Democratic Party is pursuing as the "eight evil laws," and its position is that unless the Democratic Party withdraws its plan to pass them within the year, it will "filibuster all bills, even non-contentious ones."
The "eight evil laws" defined by the People Power Party include: ▲ a law to establish a dedicated insurrection tribunal ▲ a law to create the crime of judicial distortion ▲ a law to increase the number of Supreme Court justices ▲ the introduction of a constitutional tort petition for trials, and other judicial reform measures such as ▲ expanding the investigative jurisdiction of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, as well as ▲ a law to regulate party banners ▲ punitive damages for false or manipulated information ▲ a law to restrict filibusters.
The first filibuster bill of the December session is the amendment to the Franchise Business Act that the Democratic Party put on the fast track (expedited agenda) in April. The bill would improve unfair transaction practices by strengthening the registration and bargaining rights of franchisee organizations. Once the bill was introduced, the People Power Party immediately applied for a filibuster, and Na Kyung-won of the People Power Party took the floor as the first speaker.
Na said, "I support the franchise business law," but added, "Because the Democratic Party is brazenly sitting on the legislature to ram through the eight evil laws, I am starting a filibuster to demand that the eight evil laws be withdrawn."
However, the filibuster will automatically end at midnight when the regular session ends on this day. A vote on the Franchise Business Act amendment is scheduled to be held at the plenary session on the 11th.
The Democratic Party criticized the People Power Party for overusing the filibuster and holding livelihood bills hostage. Party leader Jung Chung-rae said in the National Assembly's Rotender Hall, "The People Power Party's grotesque plan to filibuster livelihood bills," and added, "Come to your senses even now and cooperate on livelihood bills."
With the rival parties in an extreme standoff, a first filibuster is likely from the 9th to the 14th, followed by a second from the 22nd to the 24th. As National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik will travel abroad from the 15th to the 20th, the parties set the end of the first filibuster for the 14th.
After the vote on the Franchise Business Act amendment, the Democratic Party plans to first introduce three contentious bills during the first filibuster period. Floor spokesperson Moon Geum-ju said, "From the 11th to the 14th, we will put up three contentious bills we want, and even if the People Power Party filibusters, our strategy is to make sure they pass."
Although it did not disclose the bills to be handled first, the Criminal Procedure Act, which includes disclosure of lower court rulings, and the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, which introduces punitive damages of up to five times for spreading false or manipulated information, are likely to be introduced. The second filibuster is expected to target the law to establish a dedicated insurrection tribunal, the judicial distortion crime, and the bill to increase the number of Supreme Court justices.
The rival parties also plan to wage a battle for public opinion inside and outside the National Assembly. The People Power Party will begin a tent sit-in at the National Assembly to block the "eight evil laws," and 253 district party committees will start putting up banners and holding solo protests from the 10th. The Democratic Party will mount a counter-response. Floor leader Kim Byung-kee said, "From this moment, we will launch an emergency action to normalize the National Assembly and complete livelihood reforms."