Ruling party faces harsher criticism for boycotting impeachment vote
Posted : 2024-12-07
Ruling People Power Party lawmakers leave the main chamber of the National Assembly in Seoul, Saturday, to boycott the vote to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his martial law declaration. Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers, front, urge them to return. Yonhap
Further loss of public trust, internal feud expected
By Kim Rahn
The ruling People Power Party (PPP) faces growing public anger and criticism as it boycotted the vote on an impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday, making it fail to meet the quorum.
This is expected to corner the already unpopular ruling party, leading to continuous demands for an apology, the removal of leadership and the potential disbandment of the party.
Ahead of the vote that resulted from Yoon’s abortive martial law on Tuesday, the party held multiple meetings since Wednesday and decided to oppose the ouster. However, because impeachment motions are voted in a secret ballot, there remained the possibility that some PPP lawmakers might defect.
While the motion required at least 200 votes out of 300 Assembly members to pass, the opposition holds 192 seats, meaning at least eight PPP lawmakers' votes were needed for its passage.
All 108 PPP members entered the main chamber when the plenary session started at 5 p.m. and participated in the vote on the special counsel bill regarding allegations surrounding first lady Kim Keon Hee. Their attendance and votes were needed to block the bill.
After the first vote, all but one PPP lawmaker left the chamber, causing the impeachment motion to fail to meet the quorum of 200. Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo was the only PPP member who remained.
Caught off guard, opposition lawmakers strongly denounced the boycott. Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) floor leader Rep. Park Chan-dae urged them to return to the chamber, calling each PPP lawmaker’s name.
Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik, urging PPP members to return, did not close the voting.
Minutes later, two PPP representatives, Kim Yea-ji and Kim Sang-wook, returned to cast their ballots.
Kim Sang-wook disclosed that although he took part in the vote to fulfill his responsibility, he voted against the impeachment according to his party line.
Woo closed the vote at 9:20 p.m. The Assembly confirmed that the vote did not meet the quorum, and the impeachment motion was automatically scrapped without counting.
Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers, including its leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung, front row center, denounce the ruling People Power Party for boycotting the impeachment vote against Yoon Suk Yeol at the National Assembly, Seoul, Friday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
The opposition bloc harshly denounced the PPP.
DPK leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung called the PPP a “treason party” that betrayed the people and actively “participated in acts of insurrection.”
“We’ll make sure Mr. Yoon Suk Yeol, who is the biggest threat to the country, will be impeached,” Lee said, calling Yoon “Mr.” instead of “president.”
Although the PPP said right after the vote became void that it would come up with measures to settle the situation and stabilize state affairs with responsibility, the party is forecast to face only harsher public backlash.
A recent public opinion poll showed that 73.6 percent of its respondents said Yoon should be impeached.
The party’s internal feud between pro-Han and pro-Yoon factions is expected to intensify. Han strongly denounced Yoon’s martial law declaration but initially agreed to set the party’s line of opposing the impeachment.
However, he hinted at supporting the ouster on Friday morning after learning that he was one of a dozen politicians targeted for arrest by troops deployed to the National Assembly on Tuesday.
He ultimately stuck to the party line despite saying Yoon’s early resignation and suspension from office were inevitable.
The party’s floor leader, Rep. Choo Kyung-ho, tendered his resignation from the post after the impeachment motion vote, saying he would take responsibility for failing to prevent the third presidential impeachment vote in the nation’s history.
A widely recognized pro-Yoon lawmaker, Choo has been accused of preventing PPP lawmakers from gathering at the Assembly late Tuesday night after Yoon’s martial law declaration when lawmakers were heading to vote to reverse it — an accusation which he denies.
The DPK filed a complaint with the police against Choo as an “accomplice to Yoon’s treason.”
Ruling People Power Party floor leader Rep. Choo Kyung-ho leaves the main chamber of the National Assembly in Seoul, Saturday, to boycott the impeachment vote against President Yoon Suk Yeol. Yonhap
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