As a filibuster began over an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act that would abolish prosecutors' supplementary investigation authority, independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, who applied to participate in the debate, was placed in a lower order and appears unlikely to get an actual chance to speak.
According to political circles on the 30th, Han applied to the National Assembly Speaker's office that day to participate in the filibuster but received the 12th spot on the final list.
As the Democratic Party submitted a motion to end debate at the same time the filibuster began, a vote to close the debate will take place around 4 p.m. on the 31st, 24 hours later. As a result, the chance to speak is likely to go only to Democratic Party and People Power Party lawmakers assigned to higher spots. The National Assembly Speaker determines the speaking order, but by convention, lawmakers belonging to negotiating blocs have been given priority.
"A filibuster is not something that someone can be blocked from doing," Han said. "But since our current filibuster system is deformed and ends within 24 hours, it cannot be called unlimited. I have been pushed down in the order and am in a situation where I cannot get a chance." He added, "I hope Rep. Joo Ho-young and other outstanding figures will say what I wanted to say about how wrong this bad law is."
Setting the debate order is the National Assembly Speaker's authority, but there have been precedents where a lawmaker belonging to a non-negotiating bloc took the first spot through consultation between parties. Cheon Ha-ram, floor leader of the Reform Party, took the first turn in a filibuster opposing the "second comprehensive special counsel bill" in January this year. At the time, the People Power Party and the Reform Party agreed to place floor leader Cheon as the first speaker as part of opposition coordination.
However, in this filibuster application process, it was understood that there was no prior communication between Han and the People Power Party's floor leadership.
"The reason floor leader Cheon took the first turn in the filibuster in the past was decided through party-to-party negotiations," a People Power Party floor official said. "It is not something that can be decided by yielding a spot at the working level, nor did Han make direct contact."
