SEOUL, March 9 (UPI) -- South Korea's protracted political turmoil entered a new stage on Tuesday, when the powerful opposition parties submitted a motion to impeach embattled President Roh Moo-hyun for breach of election laws and corruption involving his aides.
The unprecedented presidential impeachment attempt is certain to throw South Korea's political process into deeper chaos ahead of the parliamentary elections slated for April 15. Many analysts say the opposition bid may backfire, triggering tougher criticisms of the corruption-tainted lawmakers, rather than the reformist president.
In a rare collaborative effort between longtime political foes, the main opposition Grand National Party and the former ruling Millennium Democratic Party joined forces to submit the impeachment motion to the National Assembly. A total of 159 lawmakers signed on for the introduction of the bill, including 108 from the GNP.
By law, an impeachment motion can be introduced with support from a simple majority of all registered legislators and be passed with two-thirds approval from all members. The two opposition parties have a total of 206 lawmakers in the 271-seat National Assembly, while the Uri Party, loyal to President Roh, holds only 47 seats.
If the opposition-controlled National Assembly approves Roh's impeachment within 72 hours, his presidential powers are frozen, and the prime minister would take over his duties. Then, the Constitutional Court is required to approve or reject it within six months. If the nine-member court decides to unseat the leader with a two-thirds vote, the country will go to the polls to elect new leader.
It marked the first time since the country's foundation in 1948 that lawmakers have tried to unseat a president through impeachment.
The impeachment motion came after the state election watchdog's ruled that Roh had violated the election laws during a television debate last week by calling for voters to support candidates of the ruling party in the parliamentary elections.
"I want to do everything within legal boundaries to support the Uri Party in the general elections," Roh said, prompting opposition forces to move to impeach him.
The National Election Commission ruled Roh had violated the law that requires public officials to remain neutral in elections. Roh's office immediately expressed displeasure at the NEC rule, saying it would seek revision of elections laws to make the president politically free.
The MDP called for the president to apologize for his unlawful support for the ruling party, threatening to impeach him. Roh was elected president in December 2002 under the then-ruling MDP's banner, but he quit the party last year and formed the Uri party with lawmakers loyal to him. Roh has pledged to join the Uri Party "in the near future."
Roh angrily reacted to the opposition move, vowing to fight any impeachment attempt. He said his remarks supporting the Uri Party were not serious enough to warrant an impeachment motion.
Roh's spokesman, Yoon Tai-young blasted the impeachment move as "unfair political offensive by the giant opposition holding hostage the country and the people ahead of the general elections." "It is believed that the duty of the president is to safeguard the order of the constitution and law against unjust oppression," he told a press briefing.
Uri Party officials called the introduction of the impeachment motion as "a coup attempt" against the constitutional order. "We will stage all-out campaign against unjust oppression that drifts state affairs into anachronism," Uri leader Chung Dong-young said in an angry tone.
Despite opposition parties' avowal, it remains uncertain whether the motion can get enough votes to pass because they are facing growing public criticism for the impeachment move.
"Any presidential impeachment attempts should be dealt more cautiously," said Nam Kyung-pil, a GNP lawmaker, indicating he will not vote for the impeachment motion. "The bill is unlikely to pass because it can hardly win the public consensus," said Lee Soo-hoon, a professor at Kyungnam University. "The reasons for impeaching the president seem weak," he said.
Many people blame the impeachment attempt by opposition lawmakers, but they also demand President Roh apologize for the controversial remarks.
"Rival parties should refrain from cutthroat power struggles," said Park Jin-man, a 42-year-old construction engineer. "President Roh is also to blame. He must honor lawmakers' voices."
Roh has been accused of seeking a political gamble to bail him out of a leadership crisis. In October, Roh called for a national referendum on his rule, saying he would resign if he lost that vote of confidence. The president said he still intended to seek a vote of confidence, originally fixed for Dec. 15 but ruled out by parliamentary opposition.
