Ruling party lawmakers face backlash for boycotting impeachment motion

By Lee Hae-rin

Public anger has been growing against the ruling People Power Party (PPP) since last Saturday when the party boycotted the impeachment vote on President Yoon Suk Yeol, according to civic groups and political circles, Tuesday.

As of 2 p.m., the number of people who agreed to the petition filed on the National Assembly's website for the dissolution of the PPP exceeded 160,000. If more than 50,000 people agree, the petition is submitted to the standing committee.

The petitioner argued that the absence of PPP lawmakers, except for Rep. Kim Yea-ji, Kim Sang-wook and Ahn Cheol-soo, in the vote on the impeachment of the president last Saturday was a "violation of the Constitution."

"The act of systematically interfering with the quorum of decisions by lawmakers undermines the principle of national sovereignty," the writer argued, citing the Constitution that says “The sovereignty of the Republic of Korea shall reside in the people, and all state authority shall emanate from the people,” and “Members of the National Assembly shall give preference to national interests and shall perform their duties in accordance with conscience.”

"If the impeachment motion submitted by the opposition party does not conform to the PPP, they (PPP lawmakers) should have attended the plenary session and proudly voted against it," the petitioner said.

"(The PPP) has betrayed itself of its capacity as a representative of the people. It should be dissolved by being held responsible for seriously undermining the democratic order," the petitioner said.

The petitioner also asked the National Assembly to request the Constitutional Court to dissolve the ruling party, as well as to take disciplinary action against lawmakers who did not attend the plenary session in accordance with the National Assembly Act.

Meanwhile, on Monday evening, candlelit vigils were held throughout the country, denouncing Yoon and PPP lawmakers.

Over 30,000 citizens, according to organizers, gathered in front of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, and marched to the PPP headquarters located blocks away, demanding the ruling party to disband.

Participants in the rally held a performance to tear up a large banner emblazoned with the phrase "PPP is accomplice to treason" in front of the party office.

Also, the local office buildings of the PPP and its lawmakers nationwide received delivery of funerary wreaths bearing messages such as "Dismantle the People's Power of the Insurrection" and "Impeach Yoon Suk Yeol."

Criticisms, such as "treason assistant," and "He kicked it when impeachment is the only way to live" and "Leave the area," were written on the ribbons hanging on the funerary wreaths.

The wreaths in front of the Ulsan and Gwangju offices of the PPP also contained phrases such as "Promise for impeachment" and "Dismantle the PPP which refuses impeachment."

According to the political circles, Tuesday, PPP lawmakers who did not attend the vote on President Yoon's impeachment last week were bombarded with text messages.

This is the result of a "text message campaign to urge impeachment" by opposition supporters who have shared lawmakers' contacts in various online communities.

PPP Rep. Shin Sung-bum also shared an image of his mobile phone screen with 40,000 unread text messages on Facebook recently, saying, "Please excuse me if I don't get a phone call for a few days."

In response, some lawmakers have downloaded applications that block messages sent from numbers outside the receiver’s personal contacts.