Ruling party passes bill to deprive the prosecution of all investigative powers
Lawmakers attend a plenary session of the National Assembly in Seoul, April 30. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea passed a controversial “reform” bill Saturday to deprive prosecutors of all investigative powers, less than two weeks before incoming President Yoon Suk-yeol takes office. Yonhap
The ruling party-dominated National Assembly passed one of two controversial bills on prosecution reform Saturday amid strong protests from the main opposition party, heralding a bipartisan standoff down the road.
The revision of the Prosecutors' Office Act was passed in a 172-3 vote, with two abstentions, during a parliamentary plenary session. Although members of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) attended the session, they boycotted the voting to protest the passage of the bill.
The revision limits the prosecution's investigative powers to only two types of crime ― corruption and economic ― from the current six, before removing them completely.
In recent weeks, the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) vowed to pass the two bills on prosecution reform before the May 10 inauguration of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol.
Early this week, the DPK railroaded the legislation through the National Assembly Judiciary Committee and said it would pass the bills at a plenary session "without fail." The DPK holds 171 out of 300 seats, compared with the PPP's 110.
The two parties reached a compromise on the bills, achieving a breakthrough between the rival parties that had sparred fiercely for weeks over the DPK's headlong push for legislation.
But the PPP later backtracked on the deal after it drew unexpectedly strong criticism from the public that lawmakers were colluding to shield themselves from prosecution investigations, as the agreement calls for excluding crimes related to elections and public officials from prosecutorial probes.
The DPK claimed that the PPP broke its promise when it demanded a review of the compromise deal.
Yoon earlier voiced concerns about the bills, calling for the entire political community to reflect deeply on what was right in order to defend the Constitution and protect the people.
The prosecution has also lambasted the reform bills and said it was reviewing an option to file a constitutional suit and seek a court injunction to suspend them if they were passed.
Following Saturday's passage of the revision of the Prosecutors' Office Act, the DPK also presented the revision of the Criminal Procedure Act, the remaining half of its prosecution reform push, for a plenary vote. The PPP countered the move with a filibuster, which is expected to last until the automatic deadline of midnight.
Before the plenary session, PPP lawmakers gathered in front of the office of Parliamentary Speaker Park Byeong-seug, holding placards and shouting chants blasting the DPK's legislative push. Physical clashes between PPP members and Park's staff broke out as the speaker tried to leave his office and enter the chamber at around 4 p.m.
According to the PPP, several of the party's female lawmakers were injured during the process and were taken to hospital. Park later apologized and said he plans to look into the circumstances surrounding the confrontation in front of his office.
In a statement, the Supreme Prosecutors Office said it expresses "deep regret" over the passage of the revision and asked for President Moon Jae-in and the parliamentary speaker to make a "rational decision" on the DPK's legislative drive. (Yonhap)