Rival parties are gearing up for a full-fledged battle for the next National Assembly, regrouping after spending more than a week in intense legislative deadlock brought about by the oppositions’ record-breaking filibuster.

While the main opposition The Minjoo Party of Korea seeks to use the filibuster as political leverage, the ruling Saenuri Party is set on putting the blame for the legislative lull on its rival.

Passages of other pending bills, that did not make it to the last plenary session on Wednesday, are unlikely as the lawmakers head into the final days of the 19th National Assembly and the rival parties rush to formulate their election strategy and nomination rule for the upcoming election slated for April 13.

“Now is time to translate the filibuster energy into an opposition alliance,” said Minjoo Party whip Rep. Lee Jong-kul. The last filibusterer described the marathon speech as an opportunity to “unite against the Park Geun-hye administration.”

Throughout the 192-hour speeches, some lawmakers from the minor Justice Party and the Peoples’ Party joined the marathon speech led by the main opposition. They took to the podium to criticize the government-backed counter-terrorism bill.

The floor leader’s remark came a day after the party’s interim leader Kim Jong-in suggested that the opposition parties should merge into a single party ahead of the general election to prevent the Saenuri Party from seizing majority in the Assembly.

The 75-year-old politician’s proposal roiled the opposition bloc, particularly the People’s Party struggling to boost its popularity despite its pledge to create a new political force. Opinion polls suggest that the newly-built party’s supporting rate is far below than that of the Minjoo Party of Korea and the Saenuri Party.

While the party’s leader Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, who founded the People’s Party after defecting the main opposition, dismissed the suggestion as “proposal with dubious intention,” other key members signaled that the party should give more thought to the offer.

“We need to have a serious discussion (about the offer),” said Rep. Chun Jung-bae. The Justice Party leader Rep. Shim Sang-jun noted that the opposition bloc should find a way to join forces during the campaign, not build a single coalition.

While deriding the coalition move as a political stunt repeated among liberal parties, the Saenuri Party rushed to devise their own strategy to win the election. The conservative party has publicly announced that it will win more than 180 seats in the elections,

Some key leadership, most of those within the faction close to President Park, urged its leader Rep. Kim Moo-sung to allow the party to nominate what it considers to be a “competitive” candidate for the election for “strategic purpose”

“Under any circumstances, we need to build our own principle and power to compete with other party. For that to happen, we have to fill the party’s candidate list with those who are looking competitive to the voters’ standard,” said Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun of the Saenuri Party.

By Yeo Jun-suk (jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)