The National Assembly convened a plenary meeting Friday to vote on a controversial electoral reform bill designed to adopt a new proportional representation system for the April general elections.

The bill will be put to a vote, about eight months after the ruling Democratic Party and its smaller rivals placed it on a fast-track in late April, along with prosecution reform bills.

National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang introduced the electoral reform bill Monday despite strong objections from the main opposition Liberty Korea Party.

The conservative party launched a filibuster to deter a parliamentary vote, but its effectiveness only lasted until Wednesday when an extra session ended.

Early this week, the DP, three minor parties and one splinter group agreed on a final deal on details about the bill that centers on the adoption of a mixed-member proportional representation system.

Under the deal, the number of directly elected seats and PR slots will be kept at 253 and 47, respectively, in the 300-member National Assembly.

The number of PR posts to be allocated under the MMP representation scheme will be capped at 30.

Speaker Moon is also expected to table a set of contentious fast-tracked bills on reforming the prosecution at the plenary session.

The proposals are designed to establish a separate unit to probe alleged corruption by high-ranking public officials and to give more investigative power to police. (Yonhap)