United Future Party confronts the ruling party with 'Opposition Debate'... Will there be a 'Second Yoon Hee-sook'?

Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the United Future Party, is attending an emergency party meeting held at the National Assembly on the 4th and delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy reporters Lee Ji-eun and Lim Chun-han] The United Future Party has decided to conduct opposition debates and free speeches to block the ruling party's legislative dominance. Considering practicality and lack of time, they agreed not to proceed with a filibuster. As the United Future Party takes on opposition debates, attention is focused on whether a 'second Yoon Hee-sook' will emerge, following the spotlight on Representative Yoon Hee-sook's five-minute speech in the National Assembly on the 30th.

Choi Hyung-doo, the United Future Party floor spokesperson, told reporters during a party meeting at the National Assembly in the morning, "We will hold opposition debates by standing committee, then select free speakers and conduct opposition debates on each bill in the plenary session."

At the party meeting, the United Future Party discussed how to block the ruling party-led passage of laws related to real estate and the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (Gong-su-cheo). Considering the ruling coalition's majority, it is realistically difficult to stop the bills, so the strategy is to highlight the unfairness of the bills' passage or delay the voting as much as possible. On the 3rd, United Future Party members of the Judiciary Committee raised procedural issues such as the formation of subcommittees to argue the unfairness of the bills' passage, but the ruling party ignored this and pushed through the vote alone.

For opposition debaters, Yoo Sang-beom was mentioned for the follow-up bills on Gong-su-cheo in the Steering Committee, and Chu Kyung-ho and Ryu Seong-geol for tax-related bills in the Strategy and Finance Committee. In the Public Administration and Security Committee, Park Soo-young will handle local tax issues, and Kim Hee-guk and Song Seok-jun will take charge of real estate-related bills in the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee. For the five-minute free speeches, Jeon Ju-hye and Lee Myung-soo will be responsible. Spokesperson Choi said, "We want to do a lot, but if the ruling party and the Speaker limit the number, we don't know if we can do everything."

The party has decided not to conduct a filibuster. Spokesperson Choi said, "The time is too short for a filibuster. Even if we start at 2 p.m., there are only about 10 hours until midnight," adding, "Even with about 10 hours, we don't have enough members to cover it, so we are leaning toward not doing it."

Regarding problematic bills, they will boycott the vote, but will participate in voting on bills such as the Sports Promotion Act, for which consensus has been reached. Spokesperson Choi said, "Depending on the case, we may not participate in the vote. For issues our party is concerned about or angry about, we will conduct opposition debates to properly convey this in the National Assembly," but added, "We will vote on the Sports Promotion Act, which was jointly submitted by both parties."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.