Assembly pushes to pass electoral reform bill on Friday

Lawmakers leave the National Assembly as an extraordinary session ends at midnight after days of a filibuster by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, Thursday. Yonhap

By Park Ji-won

The National Assembly is expected to pass a fast-tracked bill on electoral reform on Friday after failing to put it to a vote due to a days-long filibuster by the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) which lasted from Monday to Wednesday.

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and other minor political parties are planning to push for passing the reform bill on Friday, along with other bread-and-butter bills. The bill is designed to add the number of proportional representatives in favor of smaller parties such as the Justice Party. As the number of lawmakers of these parties meets the 148-seat quorum, the bills could be passed without the LKP's participation.

The DPK and other political parties continued to stress the importance of passing the bills.

“It's the people's order to reflect their opinions in National Assembly seats by creating a law of a mixed-member proportional representation system,” Rep. Lee In-young, floor leader of the DPK, said during a party meeting, Thursday.

“(The party) will seek to pass the electoral bill and other bills on prosecution reform and people's livelihood during an upcoming plenary session.”

The DPK and the government have been pushing for the passage of budget-related bills by this year because the budget for the 2020 fiscal year will not be implemented without the necessary supplementary bills.

His remarks came after the last extraordinary session ended on Wednesday, in which the DPK criticized the LKP for boycotting legislative activities and the LKP fired back at the DPK for trying to pass the fast-tracked bills. Through the filibuster, the LKP delayed the passage of the electoral bill and criticized the cooperative legislation move of the other parties.

If the electoral bill is passed, the upcoming April general election will be carried out under the new rule. The bill outlines that the number of seats will be the same as last time: 253 seats from constituencies and 47 seats for proportional representatives. It is largely expected that the minor parties will secure additional proportional representation seats as it reflects the support ratings of the parties.

The DPK and other parties are also planning to table other bills including a fast-tracked bill on establishing an independent body for investigating corruption of high-ranking officials and supplementary bills for next year's budget on Dec. 30.

The LKP, however, went all-out to protest the rival parties' moves, filing a complaint with the prosecution against National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang for his alleged abuse of power. The party claimed Moon introduced bills which weren't discussed with the LKP and that was obstruction of the Assembly. The conservative party also submitted a request asking for a suspension of the passage of the electoral bill and the related extraordinary session.