|
The South Korean National Assembly, voting in a plenary session of parliament, ratified an impeachment motion against President Roh Moo-hyun on Friday. The passage of the articles of impeachment marks the first time since the Korean constitution was ratified 56 years ago that a head of state has been stripped of his powers by the country's parliament. Immediately after the motion¡¯s passage, Kim Ki-chun, chairman of the parliamentary Legislation and Judiciary Committee, sent a written copy of the articles of impeachment to President Roh and the Constitutional Court. Following his impeachment, President Roh¡¯s powers as head of state and chief executive have been suspended, and the Constitutional Court will now initiate proceedings to determine whether to approve the impeachment motion.
If more than six of the nine members of the Constitutional Court uphold the impeachment, President Roh will be removed from office. But if the court dismisses the articles of impeachment, the parliamentary motion will be shelved and Roh¡¯s powers will be restored. The constitution requires that the court hand down a decision within 180 days of the passage of the articles of impeachment.
While President Roh is suspended Prime Minister Goh Kun will assume all the president's powers and duties, including the role of commander in chief, the power to sign treaties and the ability to appoint and to accept diplomatic envoys.
 |
|
Chairman of Grand National Party (GNP) Choe Byung-yul (right) waits for results in his seat as the vote to impeach President Roh Moo-hyun begins at the National Assembly on Friday. Chairman of the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) Chough Soon-hyung (center) watches the lawmakers of the ruling and opposition parties struggle with the impeachment bill with a blank expression. Uri Party Chairman Chung Dong-young (left) shouts and criticizes the Speaker of the National Assembly Park Kwan-yong, standing on his seat as the vote for impeachment proceeds.
|
 |
|
Following the parliamentary vote, Prime Minister Goh issued a statement, which read in part, ¡°I deplore that such a unprecedented event has occurred in the Korean constitutional history and feel so sorry to the people for the current situation. However, I hope that the administration will not be agitated and carry out state affairs with a firm determination to overcome the current national crisis.¡±
The prime minister then called an emergency meeting of economy- and security-related ministers, as well as an extraordinary cabinet meeting, where he urged ministers to do their best to minimize the impact of the impeachment on the national economy and to maintain consistent economic policies to prevent Korea¡¯s international credibility from falling.
 |
|
Prime Minister Goh Kun presided over a ministerial meeting Friday afternoon. Prime Minister Goh takes over as interim head of state as the impeachment motion against President Roh Moo-hyun was passed by the National Assembly on Friday.
|
|
|
The prime minister then called an emergency meeting of economy- and security-related ministers, as well as an extraordinary cabinet meeting, where he urged ministers to do their best to minimize the impact of the impeachment on the national economy and to maintain consistent economic policies to prevent Korea¡¯s international credibility from falling.
The National Assembly held the vote on the impeachment motion at 11 a.m. on Friday after Speaker Park Kwan-yong invoked his powers to maintain order in the parliament and lawmakers from the pro-government Uri Party, who were occupying the speaker¡¯s seat, were forcibly removed from the podium. The motion passed 193-2. Voting to impeach were 129 lawmakers from the Grand National Party, 53 from the Millennium Democratic Party, eight from the United Liberal Democrats and five independent lawmakers. Passage required a two-thirds majority, or 181 votes out of a total of 271 parliamentary seats, to impeach. During the balloting, which lasted for about 50 minutes, opposition lawmakers violently scuffled with Uri Party members.
After the impeachment motion passed, the Uri Party issued a statement labelling the impeachment as the "March 12 parliamentary coup d¡¯etat." The party announced it would file a lawsuit in an attempt to nullify the impeachment motion and called for the Constitutional Court to make a quick decision. In addition, all uri party lawmakers vowed to resign their parliamentary posts in protest.
(Kim Chang-kyun, ckkim@chosun.com )
|
