Anti-Park faction to join impeachment

President braces for fateful week

President Park Geun-hye faces the most crucial week of her presidency as the National Assembly is set to vote on a motion to impeach her Friday.

With her presidency hanging by a thread, all eyes are on which step the embattled President will take to resolve her biggest political crisis.

After fierce overnight debates over the impeachment motion, the three opposition parties agreed Saturday morning to vote on whether to unseat Park.

On Sunday, lawmakers of the ruling Saenuri Party, who do not support the scandal-ridden President, again vowed to vote with the opposition if the rival parties fail to reach a consensus on the timing of Park’s resignation and the follow-up political roadmap.

The vote is highly likely to take place as opposition lawmakers have refused to have negotiations with the governing party on Park stepping down, saying what the people want is her immediate resignation without any conditions attached.

The approval of the motion by the Assembly will lead to an immediate suspension of the President from her official duties. Park is completely stripped of power if the Constitutional Court concurs that she committed a crime that makes her unfit to serve, after up to six months of deliberation.

While pro- and anti-Park members within the ruling party, and the opposition parties exchanged blows last week over the President’s resignation and impeachment, more than 2.3 million angry citizens took to the streets nationwide, Saturday, in the sixth consecutive weekend rally, demanding her immediate resignation.

Cheong Wa Dae made no specif- ic comment, only saying its position to let the National Assembly decide the timing and method of the President’s resignation remained unchanged. Park announced this, Nov. 29, in her third nationally televised address regarding the corruption and influence-peddling scandal involving herself and her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil.

“We will let the parties make a decision through consultation,” said a presidential office official.

The comment was construed as an intention to wait and see developments in the situation as several days are left before the impeachment vote.

The high-profile political scandal, which was brought to the fore in late October, has left Park’s leadership in tatters. The prosecution has named the President as a prime suspect in the scandal, in which Choi was indicted, Nov. 20, for allegedly interfering in state affairs and extorting local conglomerates to accumulate wealth for herself.

Political pundits expect Park to announce her position, possibly the timing of her stepping down, soon. When she delivered the third address, Park indicated that she will give a fourth address, possibly this week, to explain details of the mounting allegations.

If the delivery of the fourth address is decided, it would be on and around Wednesday as anti-Park lawmakers within the governing party warned that if Park does not declare that she will immediately stand back from managing state affairs and voluntarily resign by the end of April, they will join forces with the opposition parties to pass the impeachment motion.

The opposition parties need at least 28 votes from the governing party to pass the motion, so the anti-Park members hold the key to passing it.

The governing party leadership, led by the supporters of the President, also said that the party unanimously agreed to push for Park’s voluntary resignation by the end of April and an early presidential election in June to minimize any chaos and a vacuum in state affairs.