Motion seeking consent for DP leader’s arrest to be put to vote

Feb 27, 2023, 07:57 am

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A motion seeking consent for DP leader Lee Jae-myung’s arrest has been reported at a plenary session of the National Assembly held on Feb. 24, 2023./ Source: Yonhap

AsiaToday reporter Lee Ha-eun

A motion seeking lawmakers’ consent for Democratic Party (DP) chairman Lee Jae-myung’s arrest will be put to a vote at the plenary session of the National Assembly on Monday. A few week ago, South Korea’s prosecution had requested an arrest warrant for lee on allegations surrounding development projects in Seongnam’s Daejang-dong and the city’s municipal football club. It is the first time in the country’s constitutional history that an arrest motion for the sitting leader of a main opposition party has been submitted to the National Assembly and put to a vote.

The Assembly is scheduled to put the motion to an anonymous vote. The motion is passed when a majority of incumbent lawmakers attend and vote in favor. As the main opposition DP holds a majority with 169 seats, chances are low that the motion will be passed.

However, the motion might be passed if some DP lawmakers vote in favor of the motion. On condition that all of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) with 115 seats, the Justice Party with 6 seats, and the Transition Party with 1 seat vote in favor, the motion will be passed if more than 28 votes in favor are cast within the DP or independent lawmakers.

The DP seems confident of ‘overwhelming rejection’. The DP confirmed at the general meeting of lawmakers last week that the prosecution’s request for an arrest warrant and the government’s submission of the arrest motion were unfair. Regarding the vote on the arrest motion, the party decided not to vote down but to leave it to a voluntary vote by lawmakers.

DP Secretary-General Cho Jeong-sik told reporters on Sunday that his party will firmly confront the prosecution’s barbarism and judicial hunting, and will overwhelmingly reject the prosecution’s political warrant. He showed confidence, saying, “The people will support the Democratic Party, and will judge the prosecution’s dictatorship firmly and sternly.”

The ruling PPP pressed the DP that the fate of the DP is at stake, not Lee, and insisted that the motion should be passed.

PPP spokesperson Jang Dong-hyeok urged on Sunday that the DP lawmakers should make a decision, as Lee will never give up his immunity from arrest and will never give up his position as DP leader.

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