“Seeing the general meeting of lawmakers, I feel truly disgusted and self-destructive.”
It is said to be a lament expressed at a drinking party held by some first- and re-elected Democratic Party members immediately after the late-night general meeting of lawmakers that was suddenly convened on the 21st due to the passage of a motion to arrest Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. On this day, harsh words were poured out at each other at the National Assembly, and under heavy fire from the pro-Myung faction, floor leader Park Gwang-on of the non-Myung faction resigned at around 11:30 p.m.
Afterwards, hard-core supporters and the pro-Myung faction continued to search for lawmakers who voted in favor. In response, the Democratic Party member revealed the ballot he had photographed inside the polling booth or confessed that he had “voted a rejected vote.” Some inside and outside the party point out that “the true face of Lee Jae-myung’s private party has been revealed.”
① Regulations for the relevant act
The first position put forward by the Supreme Committee, led by Supreme Council member Jeong Cheong-rae after the resignation of the non-affiliated floor leadership, was that “a clear vote was an unacceptable act.” He also called it a “despicable act of betrayal.” There is a backlash from within the party, calling it a “red flag attack” (Rep. Cho Eung-cheon, MBC Radio on the 25th).
The reason why the ‘relevant act’ regulation faced opposition was because the basis for judgment was weak. At the general meeting the day before the vote, the Democratic Party concluded, “We decided not to make (the rejection) a party line, but to ask each member to ‘take this into consideration’” (Lee So-young, floor spokesperson). The purpose was to respect the votes of individual members of the National Assembly, which are constitutional institutions.
The resignation of Park Gwang-on, the floor leader, was also due to criticism that ‘the management of the situation was lax.’ A Democratic Party official said, “If the passing vote is truly an act in question, the person responsible should be found and disciplined, and there is no need for the in-house leadership to resign.” He added, “Everyone is so enraged that they are spitting out incoherent words.” Rep. Hong Young-pyo, a leading member of the non-establishment community, said on Facebook on the 25th, “The act of inciting and encouraging division is the relevant act,” and claimed, “Resolving judicial issues is the party’s love.”
② Impossibility to search for votes
Usually, if a political party defines an act as a ‘relevant act’, disciplinary procedures according to the party constitution and rules follow. However, the pro-Myung faction has not been able to initiate the ‘ethics tribunal investigation’ procedure stipulated in the party regulations until the 25th, three days later. A party leadership official said on this day, “This was discussed even in a private meeting,” but only said, “There is a substantive review of Representative Lee’s warrant tomorrow, so we will look at the results and proceed based on the timing.”
The reason disciplinary proceedings cannot be initiated despite the pro-Myung faction’s declaration is because it is impossible to find the member who voted for it. In the first place, the vote was conducted by anonymous vote, and even if you say, “I voted no,” there is no way to prove the truth. For this reason, Yoo In-tae, a former secretary-general of the National Assembly and a senior member of the Democratic Party, said, “Why are you hunting them down?” and “When you say things like that, the sound of totalitarianism is coming out of President Yoon Seok-yeol’s mouth” ( CBS Radio
on the 21st). Lee Jeong-mi, leader of the Justice Party, also pointed out on the 25th, “What is happening (in the Democratic Party) after the ground order to hunt down traitors was issued is similar to President Yoon Seok-yeol, who talks about ‘expulsing anti-state forces.’” ③While the active leadership of Gaedal failed to come up with a political solution, the voices of ‘Gaedal’, Lee’s strong supporters, are getting louder.
The Democratic National Innovation Council, a pro-party group outside the National Assembly, issued a statement on the 24th and poured out demands such as ▶Resignation of Rep. Song Gap-seok ▶Disciplinary measures for Reps. Kim Jong-min, Lee Won-wook, Cho Eung-cheon, Lee Sang-min, and Seol Hoon. YouTube’s ‘New Day’ recently posted a list of 31 lawmakers who signed the ‘Declaration of Waiver of the Privilege of Non-Arrest of National Assembly Members’ in July with the subtitle, “Those who supported the arrest motion are criminals and traitors of history.” Then, in the local offices of non-affiliated lawmakers such as Lee Sang-min, Park Yong-jin, Cho Eung-cheon, and Yoon Young-chan, placards were hung saying, “We want you to resign from your position and leave immediately,” and party members holding pickets saying “Leave the party” came and started a fight.
Some in the political world are also pointing out that “the pro-Myung faction leadership is encouraging this chaotic situation.” In fact, the day after the arrest motion was passed, Representative Lee Jae-myung encouraged his daughter, saying, “As the owner of the Democratic Party, please fill in, reprimand, and correct the shortcomings of the Democratic Party.” Supreme Council member Chung, who is acting as Representative Lee, also appealed for unity, saying, “Joining the party will save Representative Lee” (Facebook on the 25th). Yoo Sang-beom, chief spokesperson스포츠토토 for the People Power Party, criticized in a commentary, “It is truly pitiful to see the Democratic Party still unable to come to its senses, falling into ‘f***ing totalitarianism’ and struggling in the swamp of abnormality.”
④Press the petition
Ahead of the substantive review of Representative Lee’s arrest warrant (on the 26th), the Democratic Party mobilized all its party power to gather petitions from supporters. The purpose was to “help the judiciary, the last bastion of the rule of law and democracy, block the prosecution’s unfair warrant request.”
However, on the other hand, Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Eui-gyeom caused controversy with fake news saying, “The warrant judge was Minister Han Dong-hoon’s classmate in the class of ’92 at Seoul National University Law School” ( KBS Radio on the 22nd). Although the Ministry of Justice issued a press release saying, “The judge in question and Minister Han are not college classmates and do not know each other,” Representative Lee’s strong supporters announced a rally in front of the Seoul Central District Court on the 26th.
Choi Jin, a professor at Kyonggi University, said, “It may seem like the hardliners of the Democratic Party are sticking together with their allies, but the more they do this, the more the moderates are falling away and only strong anti-groups are forming in return.” He added, “Now we have to face reality.”
