The Legislative Process

[Daily Telegraph, 18.12.2008]
http://hellotxt.com/l/y244

South Korean politicians tried to sledgehammer their way into a parliamentary meeting room barricaded by the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) as the National Assembly descended into chaos over a free-trade agreement with the United States.

Security staff and aides from the ruling party stood guard outside the room to keep opposition lawmakers away after the committee’s GNP-affiliated chairman invoked his right to use force to “keep order” in parliamentary proceedings.

Opposition members used a sledgehammer and an electric saw to tear open the meeting room’s wooden doors, only to find barricades of furniture set up inside as a second line of defence. Security guards sprayed fire extinguishers at those trying to force their way inside.