DP PASSES PROSECUTION REFORM BILL

[Anchor Lead]

The ruling Democratic Party unilaterally pushed the prosecution reform bill through the Legislation and Judiciary Committee’s plenary meeting early this morning. The opposition People Power Party, having been forced by the public opinion to renegotiate an earlier arbitration, is denouncing that the DP railroaded the bill using gimmicks and subterfuge. Meanwhile, the DP plans to pass the bill through the plenary session of the National Assembly as early as today, claiming that they had followed the bipartisan deal.

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The National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee held a general meeting Tuesday night. From the start, People Power Party members held up protest signs and jeered at the committee chair.

[Soundbite] Park Kwang-on(Chair, Legislation and Judiciary Committee) : "Hold on, Rep. Kim Nam-kuk. Wait. Please be quiet."

The opposition bloc even demanded organizing the Agenda Coordination Committee to stop the committee from approving the bill.

[Soundbite] Yoo Sang-bum(People Power Party) : "It’s meaningless to discuss it any longer. I demand the formation of the Agenda Coordination Committee."

But Representative Min Hyung-bae, who had left the DP last week, played an instrumental role in the Agenda Coordination Committee. Having joined the six-member committee as an independent, Min sided with the ruling party to pass the bill four-to-two. The DP held a plenary session and passed the revisions of the Prosecutors’ Office Act and the Code of Criminal Procedure on its own in a standup vote at about 11 minutes past midnight. From tabling the bill to voting, it took less than 10 minutes.

[Soundbite] Park Kwang-on(Chair, Legislation and Judiciary Committee) : "With eleven members for the bill, I declare the motion passed."

Now that the bill has been approved by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, the prosecutors’ office is left to investigate only corruption cases and economic crimes. However, unlike in the agreement, the investigative authority over election crimes will remain with the prosecutors until the end of this year as suggested by the Justice Party. The PPP denounced the ruling party for using gimmicks and subterfuge to push the bill... while the DP claimed they had followed the bipartisan deal and the PPP is being stubbornly contentious.

[Soundbite] Kweon Seong-dong(Floor Leader, People Power Party) : "They forced the bill through without giving lawmakers a single chance to discuss it or remark about the proceedings."

[Soundbite] Park Hong-keun(Floor Leader, Democratic Party) : "They agreed after examining every word thoroughly. But now they’re using physical force to interrupt us like that. How can we tolerate and condone their two-faced behavior?"

The DP called all its lawmakers to stand by as it plans to pass the bill through the National Assembly’s plenary session as early as Wednesday while the PPP started a sit-in protest in the National Assembly building this morning.