South Korean opposition parties yesterday said they will hold a parliamentary impeachment vote on scandal-tainted South Korean President Park Geun-hye next week, while her own party remains undecided on whether to force her out of office.
Park has offered to resign and on Tuesday asked parliament to decide how and when she should step down over the influence-peddling scandal, but the opposition has rejected it as a delaying tactic to avoid impeachment.
If Park is forced out of office or resigns, she will be the first democratically elected South Korean president not to serve a full term.
A large rally is expected today, the sixth weekend protest in succession, calling on her to resign immediately.
The three opposition parties, with a combined 165 seats in the 300-member parliament, can bring the impeachment, but would need some members from Park’s Saenuri Party to bring the vote to the two-thirds majority required to pass the bill.
“The three opposition parties will pursue the impeachment through close cooperation and without wavering,” a spokesman for the main opposition Democratic Party, Ki Dong-min, said.
“The motion will be proposed today. It will be reported to the plenary session on [Thursday] and we will bring the impeachment motion to a vote on [Friday],” he said.
Park is accused of colluding with a friend, Choi Soon-sil, who has been accused of abuse of power, to put undue pressure on conglomerates to contribute money to foundations that were set up to promote her policy initiatives.
Park has denied wrongdoing, but has apologized to the nation.
Some Saenuri members had earlier said they would join the opposition parties to impeach Park, but changed their position after Park offered to quit, saying she should be given the chance to step down of her own accord by April.
“The president has offered to step down, so I don’t get what the motive is for insisting on impeaching her when we know there’s going to be uncertainties and confusion and side effects,” Saenuri leader Chung Jin-suk told a meeting.
Some opposition members have said a failed impeachment could vindicate Park’s claim to have done nothing to benefit personally and help her survive politically.
“If the motion is voted down, it is effectively a remission of her sins,” People’s Party chief Park Jie-won told a party meeting on Thursday.
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