People Power Party: "Democratic Party Brought Philber on Themselves... Should Listen Instead of Nitpicking"

Joo Ho-young: "As the people begin to know, they want to shut the opposition party's mouth"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyemin] On the 13th, the People Power Party sharply criticized the Democratic Party of Korea's move to end the filibuster (unlimited debate), saying, "They cited the rapidly spreading COVID-19 as a reason, but it is nothing more and nothing less than words spoken in regret to dilute their image of arrogance."

Hwang Kyuhwan, the full-time deputy spokesperson of the People Power Party, said in a statement on the same day, "It was none other than the Democratic Party that brought about the filibuster."

Deputy Spokesperson Hwang criticized, "The Democratic Party passed the law swiftly from the standing committee to the plenary session without even giving the opportunity for the debate they insisted on. Is it reasonable to say that the opposition party, which was deprived of even that chance and tried to express its will through a filibuster, 'neglected state affairs during the COVID-19 crisis'?"

He added, "Ruling party members, in an attempt to undermine the legitimate defense mechanism of the minority opposition to block the ruling party's unilateral actions, have been eager to reveal conspiracies to control the media or to find faults in opposition members' speeches, thereby diminishing the significance of the filibuster. They busied themselves dissecting each voice of opposition members, which they usually ignore, cutting out all context to inflict damage."

Deputy Spokesperson Hwang said, "To disparage the opposition members' right to unlimited debate through Cold War thinking and confrontational language only reveals their own ignorance of parliamentary politics. Wouldn't it be the least bit decent to listen to the opposition's voices now, instead of wasting time on pointless nitpicking?"

On the same day, Joo Ho-young, the floor leader, also criticized in an emergency press conference, "The Democratic Party is trying to silence even the mouths of others with the power of 180 seats."

He pointed out, "At first, they seemed to be boldly saying, 'Try it as long as you can; how long do you think you can last?' But as all the first-term lawmakers joined and Representative Yoon Hee-sook renewed the record for the longest time, and the public began to understand, now they are coming out trying to shut the opposition's mouths."

Floor Leader Joo said, "The Democratic Party says not to engage in political strife amid the COVID-19 outbreak, but the filibuster is not political strife, and if it were, they themselves should refrain from speaking. What do they have to say when they have neither secured quality vaccines nor made efforts to do so?" He added, "Is it people who have the public's welfare in mind to push forward with the transfer of the National Intelligence Service's counterintelligence investigation authority scheduled for three years later and the ban on anti-North Korean leaflets, which even the UN Human Rights Council opposes, at a time when the North Korean threat is rising?"

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