Source link : https://news7.asia/news/president-yoon-escapes-impeachment/
Saved by the deputies of his party (PPP) who left the hemicycle, in a heated atmosphere and under jeers, at the time of the vote! South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol escaped impeachment on Saturday, December 7, four days after his failed attempt to impose martial law and despite pressure from tens of thousands of demonstrators. At least 200 votes out of 300 were necessary to dismiss the unpopular conservative president, in power since 2022, but only 195 deputies ultimately participated in the vote. “Therefore, I declare that the vote on this issue is invalid,” said National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik. “The failure of the vote on this issue signifies the failure of the democratic process on this matter. a critical national problem. On behalf of the National Assembly, I apologize to the people,” added Woo Won-shik. To win, the opposition, which has 192 deputies, had to rally at least eight elected officials from the presidential party to its cause. Only three PPP MPs voted, despite the insistence of Woo Won-shik who left the voting open until late in the evening, begging the presidential party MPs to return to cast their ballots to “protect the Republic of Korea and its democracy.”150,000 anti-Yoon protestersNearly 150,000 anti-Yoon protesters, according to police cited by the Yonhap news agency, surrounded the National Assembly building on Saturday evening, braving the freezing cold. The organizers claimed a million participants. Thousands of Yoon’s supporters demonstrated in the center of the capital Seoul. Yoon Suk-yeol stunned South Korea on Tuesday evening by announcing the imposition of martial law – an unprecedented measure since 1980, after the coup d’état by the dictator Chun Doo-hwan – and by sending the army to Parliament in order to muzzle him. Under incredible conditions, 190 deputies still managed to hold a session emergency in the night, while their assistants blocked the doors of the hemicycle with furniture to prevent armed soldiers from entering. Unanimously, these deputies voted against martial law, forcing the head of state to repeal it after barely six hours. “I will not shy away from my responsibilities” in a televised address to the nation. Barely two minutes on Saturday morning, Yoon Suk-yeol, 63, announced that he would entrust his party with taking “measures aimed at stabilizing the political situation, including concerning (his) mandate”. “I will not shy away from my legal and political responsibilities regarding the declaration of martial law,” he added. He explained his coup by his “desperation as president”, while Parliament was largely dominated by the opposition torpedoed practically all his initiatives. “I have caused anxiety and inconvenience to the public. I offer my sincere apologies,” he concluded before bowing deeply to the viewers. General animosity His very short speech did nothing to calm the general animosity. The head of the PPP, Han Dong-hoon, affirmed that “an early resignation of the president is inevitable”, the normal exercise of his functions being according to him “impossible under these circumstances”. But after a meeting on the night of Friday December 6 to Saturday December 7, a majority of party deputies reaffirmed the official line according to which they would defeat the impeachment, while Han Dong-hoon had called for the “rapid suspension” of Yoon Suk-yeol. “It seems that the ruling party decided to oppose the impeachment during the vote on the condition that the president cedes control to him,” Chae Jin-won, a researcher at the Humanitas College of Kyung Hee University, told AFP. “The main problem is that, while recognizing that the president has committed wrongdoing and that he is a criminal, they simply do not want to give power to Lee Jae-myung,” the head of the Democratic Party, the main force opposition, he added. also targeted by an investigation for “rebellion” In front of the Assembly, tens of thousands of anti-Yoon demonstrators followed the vote with anxiety on giant screens, brandishing signs demanding there dismissal of the president and singing pro-democracy songs. “It’s terrible to come to this today,” exclaimed An Jun-cheol, 24. “What the deputies of the ruling party did today, withdrawing from the vote, is nothing other than an attempt to establish their power and their privileges, without worrying about the people.”A pro rally -Yoon also took place in the central square of Gwanghwamun. Demonstrators held “Arrest Lee Jae-myung” posters there, others waved American flags. In addition to the impeachment procedure now invalidated, Yoon Suk-yeol is the target of a police investigation for “rebellion”, a crime theoretically punishable by the death penalty, which has not been applied in the country since 1997.
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Author : News7
Publish date : 2024-12-07 13:49:55
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