The People Power Party (PPP), which has been boycotting National Assembly standing committee sessions in protest of parliamentary reorganization negotiations, has signaled a filibuster in response to the Democratic Party's push to extend the special counsel investigation period. As the standoff between the rival parties drags on, analysts say the normalization of the Assembly—stalled for nearly 50 days since the second-half session opened—has become even more distant.
According to political circles on the 19th, the Democratic Party plans to pass at the plenary session on the 20th an amendment to the "Act on the Appointment of a Special Counsel for Investigating the Truth of Insurrection, Foreign Aggression, and State Affairs Manipulation by Yoon Suk-yeol and Kim Keon-hee." The core of the amendment is to extend the special counsel investigation period by 30 days, from the 24th of this month to the 23rd of next month. It also adds "obstruction of audits" by public officials to the scope of the special counsel investigation, and expands the number of public officials dispatched to the special counsel from the current 130 to 150.
The PPP has taken the position that it will immediately counter with a filibuster. "Our party plans to strongly respond to the politically retaliatory special counsel extension with a filibuster," a PPP official said. "As the Assembly situation is grave, we will hold a rally on the 20th, and lawmakers will remain on emergency standby at the Assembly." Choi Bo-yoon, the PPP's chief spokesperson, also criticized the move in a statement that day, saying, "The four special counsels the ruling party pushed through have spent 6.461 billion won of taxpayers' money like water on rent for ultra-luxury offices in the city center alone, unrelated to the substance of the investigation."
The rival parties are continuing a strong confrontation not only over the special counsel investigation extension, but also over an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act centered on abolishing prosecutors' supplementary investigation authority, and over the method of nominating a special counsel for the National Election Commission.
Regarding the Criminal Procedure Act amendment, even within the Democratic Party, some argue that prosecutors' supplementary investigation authority should be maintained only for crimes targeting the socially vulnerable. The PPP, meanwhile, counters that prosecutors' supplementary investigation authority should not be entirely abolished, making it difficult to find common ground.
Differences also remain over who holds the nomination authority for the Election Commission special counsel, which is meant to investigate poor election management, including the "shortage of ballots" during the June 3 local elections. The Democratic Party insists on a third-party nomination method, while the PPP insists on an opposition-party nomination method, with the two running on parallel tracks.
If the rival parties ultimately fail to find common ground, there are projections that the Democratic Party could take all seven standing committee chair positions it had left for the opposition and operate all 18 standing committees on its own. Han Byeong-do, the Democratic Party's acting leader and floor leader, applied pressure, saying, "Due to the PPP's meaningless boycott, 59 livelihood bills, the Election Commission special counsel bill, and follow-up legislation for the three mega projects are all tied up. If the PPP continues to turn its back on people's livelihoods to the end, we will have no choice but to make a grave decision."
By contrast, PPP floor leader Chung Jum-sik said on the 14th of this month, "I hope the largest party in the Assembly will unilaterally amend the National Assembly Act to take all 18 standing committee chair positions for itself." With the rival parties failing to find common ground, the normalization of the Assembly appears unlikely for the time being.
