Roh, roh!
Posted on 03/11/2004 5:55:55 AM PST by nuconvert
Rival Lawmakers Face off Over Impeaching President Roh; Roh Supporter Sets Himself on Fire
Mar 11, 2004
By Sang-Hun Choe/ Associated Press Writer
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Lawmakers loyal to President Roh Moo-hyun occupied the parliamentary speaker's podium Thursday, physically blocking the National Assembly from voting on South Korea's first ever presidential impeachment bill. The assembly adjourned, but the opposition vowed to try again on Friday.
"We cannot convene the meeting under these circumstances. We will try to convene tomorrow," Assembly Speaker Park Kwan-yong said.
The standoff over the unprecedented move to impeach the president came as rival parties vied for political high ground ahead of all-important parliamentary elections next month. Roh hopes to use the April 15 poll to increase the meager ranks of his supporters in the assembly.
A Roh supporter later set himself on fire in front of the assembly compound in an apparent protest of the impeachment move, police said. While he was rushed to a hospital, witnesses said, the man shouted: "Let's block impeachment!" He was in a stable condition.
Also in Seoul, police were searching for a businessman who reportedly jumped off a bridge into a river after Roh denounced him during a televised news conference for allegedly trying to bribe Roh's brother.
Opposition leaders blasted the blocking maneuver as a "mutiny against constitutionality" and urged the president's supporters to step aside. They claimed to have enough votes to impeach the president on grounds of illegal electioneering and incompetence.
The opposition parties need a minimum of 181 votes for impeachment. They have until Friday evening to vote on whether to oust Roh from office or the bill automatically dies. If they do, Roh's powers will be frozen and the constitutional court will make a final decision on whether he must step down.
Trying to defuse the crisis, Roh held a nationally televised news conference earlier Thursday and offered to step down if the small Uri Party backing him fares poorly in the April election.
Opposition lawmakers rejected the offer. But as they gathered at the National Assembly to vote on the impeachment, dozens of Uri Party lawmakers commandeered the assembly speaker's podium - the only place where the bill can be put to a vote.
The opposition Grand National Party and Millennium Democratic Party submitted the impeachment motion on Monday after the National Election Commission ruled that the president had violated election laws when he called for "overwhelming support" for the Uri Party at a news conference last month.
The remarks violate campaign laws. But the election watchdog said Roh's comment was a minor infraction not warranting criminal charges.
Roh has no party affiliation, but plans to join the Uri Party.
"I want to resolve the question of whether the people trust me or not and the question of impeachment by making a bold decision according to the results of the parliamentary elections," Roh said. "The bold decision I will make includes the question of whether I will step down or not."
Hong Sa-duk, floor leader of the GNP, said his party and the MDP had secured the two-thirds majority needed for impeachment.
The liberal Uri Party has 47 seats in the 273-member National Assembly. The MDP and GNP have 209 seats in parliament, or three-quarters of the assembly's total.
Roh's camp and the political opposition have been rocked by allegations that they collected illegal campaign funds from businesses around the time of the 2002 presidential election.
Several close aides to Roh have come under scrutiny for alleged corruption, and in December, three former Roh aides were indicted on charges of collecting illicit funds in the presidential campaign.
Roh apologized for the corruption on Thursday, saying: "First of all, I am sorry ... I bow my head and extend my apology."
A GNP statement said Roh's news conference was full of "brazen-faced, shameless sophism" and that "impeaching President Roh will save the country and revive the economy."
a businessman who reportedly jumped off a bridge into a river after Roh denounced him
Politics is played for keeps over there.
Roh, roh!
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