The main opposition Democratic Party(DP) slammed the prosecution for seeking an arrest warrant against its party chief while the ruling People Power Party(PPP) called for lawmakers to ratify the arrest.

DP floor leader Park Hong-keun on Thursday said the prosecution targeting a former presidential candidate and the main opposition leader suggests that the agency has begun to show its true colors and has declared itself as the vanguard of the administration's dictatorship. 

Park also reiterated calls for a special prosecutor's investigation into First Lady Kim Keon-hee's alleged involvement in the stock manipulation case of Deutsch Motors, a local BMW dealer. 

Meanwhile, PPP interim leader Chung Jin-suk urged lawmakers of all parties to conscientiously cast their votes when the prosecution sends its motion to arrest Lee. 

The National Assembly Act proscribes a sitting lawmaker from being arrested while the Assembly is in session without parliamentary approval or unless they are caught in the act.

The prosecution is expected to send the motion next Friday, after which it must be put to a vote within 72 hours. 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.