People Power Party Criticizes Democratic Party for Pushing Election Act Amendment and Cho Hee-dae Special Prosecutor Bill
Calls It "Collapse of Separation of Powers for Lee Jaemyung's Sake"
On May 14, the People Power Party criticized the Democratic Party of Korea for pushing through an amendment to the Public Official Election Act regarding the crime of disseminating false information, as well as a special prosecutor bill targeting Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae in the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee, calling it a "judicial terror attack."
On this day, People Power Party lawmakers Yoo Sangbum, Song Seokjun, Cho Baesook, and Kwak Gyutaek, who are members of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, held a press conference at the National Assembly’s communication center. They stated, "The Democratic Party is thoroughly undermining the fundamental values of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, namely the separation of powers and the rule of law, solely for the sake of candidate Lee Jaemyung."
On the same day, the Democratic Party passed an amendment in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee that removes the term "act" from the elements constituting the crime of disseminating false information under the Public Official Election Act. The party is also pushing ahead with the special prosecutor bill to investigate suspicions of Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae’s involvement in the presidential election.
The People Power Party defined this as "a typical tailor-made legislation to secure an acquittal for candidate Lee." They argued that by effectively legalizing the dissemination of false information, the amendment undermines the fairness of elections and clouds voters’ judgment.
Representative Cho Baesook emphasized, "The Constitutional Court has clearly stated that the crime of disseminating false information is not unconstitutional." She added, "Proposing an amendment for Lee Jaemyung’s acquittal ahead of the presidential election and muzzling the judiciary with a special prosecutor bill is an excessive attack on the judiciary."
Representative Yoo Sangbum also pointed out, "If the amendment passes, Lee Jaemyung will be exempt from punishment for the crime of disseminating false information." He criticized, "A criminal becoming president by eliminating the crimes for which they should be punished is something that only happens in dictatorships."
Regarding the special prosecutor bill targeting Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, the lawmakers directly criticized it as "a judicial terror attack aimed at subjugating the judiciary to political power." They argued that oppressing the judiciary and abusing special prosecutors and hearings as tools of retaliation, simply because the court handed down an unfavorable ruling against Lee, is a clear violation of the Constitution.
Representative Song Seokjun asserted, "The Democratic Party is committing acts that destroy the judiciary in order to make a lawbreaker the president." He urged, "We call on the public to ensure that a criminal does not become president and that the judiciary is not destroyed by the legislature."
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