Lee Jun-seok Petition Released "Party Leader Resignation Persuasion by Someone Close to the Absolute Power"

"If I step down, they said they would give me a presidential special envoy position"
Desperately hoping for judicial assistance

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] A petition submitted by former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok to the court regarding the party’s application for a provisional injunction to switch to an emergency committee was made public on the 23rd. Former leader Lee revealed that he was pressured by people around him to resign from his position as party leader, referring to President Yoon Seok-yeol as an "absolute figure" while mentioning the 1980s new military regime forces.

In the petition released that day, former leader Lee stated, "The absolute figure leading this situation may actively exercise the authority to declare an emergency if the current situation is not rectified by the judiciary, and that emergency declaration authority will remain an indelible danger in the back of the mind, dominating the party regardless of which leadership comes in."

Former leader Lee said, "After the local elections in June this year, I received a proposal from someone close to the absolute figure that if I stepped down from the party leadership position until December, they would mediate to properly organize the disciplinary procedures of the Ethics Committee and the police investigation procedures against me, and also allow me to visit several places as a presidential special envoy," adding, "Up to this point, I have intermittently heard similar stories from several different parties at intervals of a few days."

He continued, "I flatly rejected the very mention of disciplinary or investigative procedures and the possibility of compromise regarding them, as I found it extremely humiliating and unfair," and pointed out, "There were times when I desperately hoped that the series of internal party conflicts occurring after I firmly rejected that proposal were just coincidental, but unfortunately, the outcome was not so."

Former leader Lee said, "I want to see a conclusion in politics where those who uphold beliefs and principles win, not where people line up according to the size of their factions," and added, "I hope a warning bell will ring for those engaged in power struggles that they will eventually be corrected."

He went on, "Not knowing much about the law and only growing more desperate in my desire to protect democracy within the party, I am insufficient but have taken up my pen in the middle of the night because there is nowhere else to voice my complaints," and said, "Although it is regrettable that party affairs could not be resolved politically, I earnestly seek the judiciary’s assistance."