PPP threatens filibuster if DP tries to pass special probe bill

Politics

Published: 02 Jul. 2024, 18:02 Updated: 02 Jul. 2024, 18:36

PPP threatens filibuster if DP tries to pass special probe bill

People Power Party floor leader Choo Kyung-ho speaks at a conference held at the ASSA Art Hall in Gangseo District, western Seoul, on Tuesday. [NEWS1]

The conservative People Power Party (PPP) threatened to filibuster a plenary session of the National Assembly on Tuesday if the liberal Democratic Party (DP) tries to pass a controversial bill mandating a special counsel probe into allegations that the Defense Ministry meddled in an official investigation into a Marine's death last year.

The PPP announcement came amid a push from the DP to introduce the bill and three broadcasting law amendments after an interpellation session scheduled for later Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters at the National Assembly, PPP floor leader Choo Kyung-ho said his party will respond with a filibuster if the DP pushes ahead with the bills, thus threatening to bring legislative proceedings to a standstill on Tuesday.

“If the DP persists with introducing the items on the agenda, we will respond by holding an indefinite debate,” he said, arguing that “long-kept principle and practice dictate that no agenda items are introduced during parliamentary interpellation sessions.”

Empty seats are seen at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, as conservative People Power Party lawmakers boycotted a parliamentary interpellation session on politics, diplomacy, unification and security issues Tuesday. [NEWS1]

During a filibuster, lawmakers opposed to a bill hold the floor by speaking continuously for extended periods in order to forestall a parliamentary vote on the proposed legislation.

The DP-led bill calls for the appointment of a special counsel to examine allegations that the Defense Ministry and the presidential office meddled in the military’s official inquest into the death of Marine Cpl. Chae Su-geun, who drowned while conducting a search and rescue mission during heavy rain and flooding in July last year.

The special counsel probe bill was railroaded through the previous 21st National Assembly at the end of April by the liberal Democratic Party (DP).

However, the conservative People Power Party (PPP), which is aligned with the government, opposed the special counsel probe, and Yoon vetoed it on May 21 after his Cabinet passed a motion demanding the National Assembly reconsider the bill.

The DP re-introduced the bill after the current 22nd National Assembly began its term in late May.

Both the PPP and the Yoon administration have argued that a special counsel probe should not take place before the police and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials (CIO) release the results of their ongoing investigation.

In previous comments, CIO chief Oh Dong-woon has said that his office would “work diligently in accordance with the law” to investigate allegations that senior government officials interfered in the military’s inquest into Chae’s death.

Oh’s comments that the CIO’s investigation “is not proceeding along a set direction” was interpreted by observers as an attempt to allay suspicions that his office’s probe is being influenced by the government’s stance on the matter.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]