The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) was reeling Tuesday from the shock of leader Lee Jae-myung’s narrow escape from potential arrest, after a deeper-than-expected chasm was revealed in the party’s ranks when dozens of party lawmakers voted for Lee’s arrest.
At least 31 DP lawmakers are believed to have broken away from the party line and voted for Lee’s arrest on Monday, leading to the National Assembly’s unexpectedly narrow rejection of the government’s request for consent to Lee’s arrest in a 139-138 vote.
The result took the party by surprise because the DP, which boasts an outright majority of 169 lawmakers in the 299-member National Assembly, had been widely expected to vote down the motion by a comfortable margin.
“It is hard to see the result as in line with the consensus that we drew,” DP floor leader Rep. Park Hong-keun said, referring to the party’s decision during a general meeting of its lawmakers to reject the motion. “We will take this opportunity to do our best to align the party in a single line.”
Park said the party’s leadership “will deeply contemplate on the meaning of the vote result.”
“The party should not head toward confusion or division due to yesterday’s incident,” he said.
The ruling People Power Party (PPP) claimed that the vote should be regarded as de facto consent to Lee’s arrest, defining the result as a “political death sentence” for Lee.
The DP, which had painted the request for a warrant as a politically motivated attempt at suppressing the main opposition party, appeared to play down its significance while urging party members to unite.
“I will communicate more within the party and collect more opinions to unite strength and fight against the prosecutorial dictatorship of the Yoon Suk Yeol dictatorship regime,” Lee said after the vote.
Some DP lawmakers, however, warned that the close result should be considered as a “warning” that could have far-reaching consequences for the party.
They expressed concern over growing criticism that the DP is abusing its majority power to shield the party leader from criminal allegations and Lee is escalating his personal allegations to a party-level issue.
“The number is just the tip of the iceberg,” DP Rep. Lee Sang-min, known as a critic of the party leader, said in a radio interview, referring to the ballot figures.
“There were many lawmakers who felt uncomfortable with criticism about shielding Lee and Lee himself reversing his presidential pledge on giving up immunity for arrest,” Lee said. “We will follow Lee’s leadership but there is growing concern that the party could completely fall off a cliff if this situation continues.”
One DP lawmaker, who asked not to be named, said that the result reflects concerns that the legal risks surrounding Lee could negatively affect the party in next year’s parliamentary elections.
“It seems there was anxiety and discontent about preparing for next year’s general elections under the Lee Jae-myung leadership. The result was a signal, asking Lee to take notice,” the lawmaker said.
Some, meanwhile, pressed Lee to consider stepping down as party leader before the prosecution seeks an additional arrest warrant.
“The party protected him once, but the vote showed that it is now time for Lee to make a decision,” one DP lawmaker said.
Prosecutors earlier sought an arrest warrant for Lee over development corruption and bribery allegations arising from his time as the mayor of Seongnam, south of Seoul, from 2010-18. It marked the first time that an arrest warrant was sought for the head of the country’s largest opposition party.
They are widely expected to indict the opposition leader without detention, as parliament’s rejection of the motion will lead to the automatic dismissal of the prosecution’s arrest warrant request against him.
Source: Yonhap News Agency