Presidential Office Hints at Vetoing 'Double Special Prosecutor'
Kim Yong-min Warns "Impeachment Clock Will Speed Up"
Jang Dong-hyuk Calls Special Prosecutor Law a "Political Bill Targeting General Election"
Immediately after the so-called 'double special prosecution' bill was passed in the National Assembly plenary session, the presidential office hinted at exercising the right to request a reconsideration (veto), while the opposition party warned, "If the veto is exercised, the clock for impeachment will speed up." On the other hand, the People Power Party criticized the forced passage of the double special prosecution, saying that the opposition is eyeing the timing of the reconsideration vote with the ruling party's defectors, who lost in the nomination competition, in mind.
On the 29th, Kim Yong-min, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, said on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' that "the veto is a power granted to the president by the constitution," and "when exercising the veto, cases related to oneself or one's spouse are subject to disqualification, recusal, or avoidance, which is an inherent constitutional limit." He added, "Simply put, there is a system of disqualification, recusal, and avoidance that prevents judges from ruling on their own cases. Members of the National Assembly are also subject to disqualification, recusal, and avoidance for legislation related to themselves," and said, "Exercising a veto beyond these limits can be sufficiently interpreted as a violation of the constitution."
Kim criticized the ruling party, saying, "They are currently making claims to shield Kim Geon-hee and to defend Kim Geon-hee's mood." He also said, "This bill was first proposed in August last year," and "The idea that the Democratic Party is using this for the general election is a wrong frame held by the other side."
On the other hand, Jang Dong-hyuk, the floor spokesperson for the People Power Party, reiterated the position that the Kim Geon-hee special prosecution law is a 'malicious law for the general election,' saying, "This is a case that was already investigated by the Moon Jae-in administration's prosecution for over two years."
On the same radio program that day, Jang said, "Just because the regime has changed, bringing this up again and trying to conduct a special prosecution as if it were a corruption case involving the president's close associates does not fit the supplementary nature of special prosecution at all," and raised his voice, saying, "During the last presidential election, there was an attempt to indict Mrs. Kim Geon-hee to create a favorable situation, but she was not indicted, and only other related persons were indicted."
In particular, regarding the Democratic Party and the Justice Party's amendment of the bill's wording just before the vote, he said, "The gist of that wording amendment is to exclude the possibility that if the president leaves the party through a trick, the People Power Party might have the right to recommend a special prosecutor." He added, "The president's leaving the party has never been considered," and said, "(The Democratic Party) continuing to build a defensive wall blatantly reveals that they intend to make the special prosecution very biased and proceed according to the Democratic Party's intentions."
Jang also criticized the Democratic Party for weighing the timing of the reconsideration vote. There is a prospect within the Democratic Party that if the special prosecution law is reconsidered after the ruling party's nomination screening, defecting votes from incumbent People Power Party lawmakers who lost in the nomination competition may emerge. Jang said, "The very question of 'when is it advantageous to hold the reconsideration vote' itself proves that this bill was politically created targeting the general election."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
