The opposition camp’s ongoing filibuster, or unlimited parliamentary relay speech, has so far achieved the intended effect of blocking the disputed government-led antiterrorism bill and highlighting its alleged power abuse clause.

The problem, however, is that it is also obstructing the passage of the revised public election law to confirm the nation’s constituencies in time for the April general elections -- a bill which the opposition has been insisting is a priority. 

The Minjoo Party of Korea and the Justice Party continued Thursday their joint efforts to carry out a filibuster at the parliamentary general assembly to stop the majority ruling Saenuri Party from putting the counterterrorism bill to a floor vote.

The Assembly floor debate started late Tuesday, with Minjoo Party first-termer Rep. Kim Kwang-jin initiating the arguments, after parliamentary speaker Chung Ui-hwa decided to put the disputed bill to vote on his own authority.

“This bill claims to prevent terrorism, but in fact justifies (the government’s) surveillance over civilians,” said the seventh relay speaker Rep. Kim Je-nam of the Justice Party, starting her speech on Thursday morning.
 

According to the National Assembly Act, the opposition bloc can continue their filibuster until March 10, the closing date of the current parliamentary session, in which case all pending bills will be on hold.

But a more plausible scenario is that it will make compromises so as to make room to vote on the public election revision bill on Friday.

Rival parties had made a much-delayed decision on Tuesday to put the redrawing plan of constituencies to a floor vote. It was the ruling party that agreed to compromise and prioritize the redrawing of the electoral map.

But this hard-reached deal may possibly go to naught, if the opposition’s filibuster against the counterterrorism bill continues. Other government-led pending bills, such as the labor reform bills and the service industry development bill, also face further delay. 

“It is possible to temporarily halt the filibuster and vote (on the public election revision bill), with the consent of parties and the parliamentary speaker,” said an official of the bill screening department.

But given that it was Speaker Chung, a former Saenuri Party member, who brought the terrorism prevention bill to the floor for a vote, it is unlikely that he will allow this as it works in favor of the opposition. 

The opposition claims that the current bill includes a “toxic clause,” bestowing an almost unlimited power on the nation’s spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, to surveil civilians at will.

The ruling party and the presidential house, on the other hand, argued that the bill is crucial to promote national security, especially amid rising military threats from North Korea.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)