SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – South Korea’s opposition lawmakers on Saturday continued their nonstop speeches for a fifth straight day in parliament to block a vote on a government-backed anti-terrorism bill that they say would threaten personal freedoms and privacy if passed into law.
Jung Cheong Rae spoke for nearly 12 hours before leaving the podium late in the afternoon, breaking a record for the country’s longest parliamentary speech set on Wednesday by fellow opposition legislator Eun Soo Mi, who spoke for 10 hours and 18 minutes.
Jin Sun Mee, who replaced Jung, was the 18th lawmaker to participate in the session since opposition lawmakers decided on Tuesday to resort to a filibuster, the country’s first since 1969.
With the filibuster exceeding 90 hours, it is one of the longest in history. In 2011, Canada’s New Democratic Party orchestrated a session that lasted 58 hours.
For their plan to succeed, the lawmakers would need to continue their speeches until midnight of March 10, when the current parliamentary session is scheduled to end.