The interim chief of the ruling People Power Party(PPP) urged lawmakers of all parties to conscientiously cast their votes when the prosecution sends its motion to arrest the main opposition leader.

At a party meeting on Thursday, PPP interim leader Chung Jin-suk called on his fellow Assembly members to ensure that they do not go down in history as transgressors who had betrayed their conscience.

Earlier on Tuesday, the prosecution initiated the process to arrest main opposition Democratic Party(DP) leader Lee Jae-myung over his alleged role in the Daejang-dong and Wirye land development scandals as well as suspicions of third-party bribery through Seongnam's football club.

The National Assembly Act proscribes a sitting lawmaker from being arrested while the Assembly is in session without parliamentary approval in the form of a vote within 72 hours of tabling the motion, or unless they are caught in the act.

Requiring a simple majority of present lawmakers to pass, the motion on Lee’s arrest is expected to fail in the face of the DP's 169-seat majority in the 300-member chamber.