159 Lawmakers Sign On for First Such Motion in History


By Yoo Dong-ho
Staff Reporter
The two major opposition parties on Tuesday joined hands to submit an impeachment motion against President Roh Moo-hyun for his breach of the election laws.

A total of 159 lawmakers signed on for the first impeachment motion to be mounted against the head of state. The number is far more than the 135 lawmakers, or a simple majority, of the 270-member Assembly needed to put the motion to a vote.

The document containing the signatures was filed at the National Assembly’s administration office and reported formally on the Assembly’s main floor around 6:27 p.m. The motion should be put to vote within the next three days. The motion, if passed with the support of at least two thirds of the total number of lawmakers, will give the Constitutional Court 180 days to finalize it. However, as things stand now, the impeachment process will likely be stopped in its tracks before forcing Roh out of office.

The flagging impeachment bid, initiated by the second largest Millennium Democratic Party (MDP), came to life as the majority Grand National Party (GNP) ended its days of wavering and decided to join, with 108 lawmakers out of its 149 affiliated members signing on.

MDP chairman Chough Soon-hyung, who is in the vanguard of the impeachment bid, refreshed his militant statement to bring down Roh. ``Roh’s resolution not to surrender to what he claims `opposition’s unfair political and tactical oppression’ reaffirmed our willingness to sack him.

The state election watchdog’s recent ruling _ that Roh violated the election law by saying he wants to do everything within legal boundaries to support the pro-government Uri Party _ prompted opposition forces to move to impeach Roh.

The Constitution stipulates that an impeachment bill against the President should be introduced by a majority of lawmakers in the 270 unicameral legislature if he or she has violated the constitution or other laws in the performance of their officials duties.

The pro-government Uri Party, for its part, reiterated its will to use every means available including ``physical force’’ to block the ballot process which may take place as early as tomorrow. ``The impeachment is nothing short of anti-parliamentary outrage and tyranny of the mammoth opposition,’’ Uri’s floor leader Kim Geun-tae said.

The unprecedented to impeach the head of state comes after hours of consultations between the two opposition parties. Backing away from his earlier lukewarm and obscured stance, Hawkish GNP whip Hong Sa-duk also tried to persuade party’s dissident junior lawmakers who cast a wry glance to the motion to join the impeachment move.

It remains to be seen, however, whether the opposition-drafted impeachment motion will possibly pick up the Assembly’s endorsement at the full voting session, apparently faced with uncertain prospects of securing the two-thirds majority to force President Roh from his office.

In particular, about 30 GNP legislators are still expected to either oppose or remain undecided on the MDP-led impeachment motion.

Those who are balking at the impeachment bid are mostly younger lawmakers, those who have been put behind bars for suspected involvement in illegal fundraising scandal and those who have failed to grab the party ticket for the April 15 legislative elections.

Under the scenario that as many as 30 lawmakers might vote against impeachment or abstain, the two opposition parties would not have the two-thirds majority, or 181 votes, needed to impeach.

yoodh@koreatimes.co.kr