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Grand National Party lawmakers occupied the National Assembly in a bid to block a United New Democratic Party-backed bill to impeach prosecutors who cleared GNP presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak of involvement in the BBK scandal. But the UNDP pledged to pass the bill in a plenary meeting, boding ill for the remaining schedule of the extraordinary parliamentary session.
Twenty GNP lawmakers led by floor leader Ahn Sang-soo and senior deputy floor leader Shim Jae-chul occupied the National Assembly¡¯s main chamber on Thursday afternoon and held an all-night vigil against a possible UNDP attempt to railroad through the impeachment bill and a motion tasking a special counsel with investigating the BBK scandal. GNP spokeswoman Na Kyung-won said that her party will block the passage of the impeachment bill, which she called ¡°a political maneuver assaulting the neutrality of the prosecution.¡±
The passage demands support from a simple majority of the 299 lawmakers. The UNDP has 141 seats in parliament, the GNP 128, the Democratic Labor Party nine and the Democratic Party seven. UNDP floor leader Kim Hyo-seuk vowed his party will push ahead with the impeachment and special prosecutor bills at the plenary meeting. But whether the party will be able to pass the bills remains to be seen, since Assembly Speaker Lim Chae-jung is reluctant to put the bills to a vote on his authority. The bills are pending in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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