Opposition falls short by 17 votes with 180 seats
Last-minute hopes on persuading defeated candidates of the People Power Party
If rejected, plan to promote as the ‘first bill of the 22nd National Assembly’,
Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party representative, speaks during a joint press conference by the opposition and civic society condemning the demand for a reinvestigation of the ‘Chae Sang-byeong Special Prosecutor Law’ at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 21st. Yonhap News,
, ‘The opposition, including the Democratic Party, plans to re-deliberate on the ‘Chae Sang-byeong Special Prosecutor Law’ that President Yoon Suk-yeol exercised his right to demand a re-deliberation on at the last plenary session of the 21st National Assembly expected on the 28th.’,
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, ‘For a bill that the President has vetoed to be redeliberated in the National Assembly, more than half of the attending members must be present at the plenary session, and two-thirds of the attending members must approve it. With 295 members present (excluding Yoon Gwan-seok, who is in custody), if all attend, 197 must approve, but even if all opposition and independents (9 seats) are combined, they only amount to 180 seats, lacking 17 votes. Therefore, the opposition is focusing on persuading People Power Party defectors, while the People Power Party is putting all its effort into ‘vote management.’ Currently, within the People Power Party, Ahn Cheol-soo, Yoo Yi-dong, and Kim Woong lawmakers have publicly expressed their support.’,
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, ‘Another variable is the 58 People Power Party defeated, pessimistic, and non-candidate members who may not enter the 22nd National Assembly. As the number of attending members at the plenary session decreases, the majority threshold also decreases. For instance, if 25 of them do not attend the plenary session, the majority threshold would decrease to 180 seats, allowing the opposition and independents alone to pass the special prosecutor law. However, a People Power Party official stated, “Since the vote is anonymous, we don’t know who left, but absenteeism is immediately noticeable. They are people who will continue working with the party in the future, so can they really not attend the plenary session?” Many defeated or pessimistic members are considering future election candidacy, party duties, government and institutional appointments, etc., so opting for absenteeism, which could help with the approval, is difficult.’,
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, ‘Even if the Chae Sang-byeong Special Prosecutor Law fails at the plenary session on the 28th, the Democratic Party plans to reintroduce it as the ‘first bill’ in the 22nd National Assembly, which opens on the 30th. With the opposition holding 192 seats in the 22nd National Assembly, there are fewer necessary People Power Party defectors (8 votes) even if President Yoon exercises his veto again. Other opposition parties such as the National Innovation Party have also hinted at active cooperation.’,
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, ‘Meanwhile, the Democratic Party is in a favorable position in the negotiations for the composition of the plenary sessions and operational committees of the 22nd National Assembly with the People Power Party as the focus shifts from ‘opposition dominance’ to ‘veto authority dominance.’ A key Democratic Party official remarked, “Exercising veto authority has actually strengthened the legitimacy for the Democratic Party to take control of key standing committees like the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.”.’,
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