By Byun Duk-kun
Staff Reporter

President Roh Moo-hyun’s alleged violation of the nation’s election law will likely be the key issue in the unprecedented presidential impeachment case to be reviewed by the Constitutional Court, according to legal experts on Monday.

Following the opposition-controlled National Assembly’s passage of the impeachment motion against the president last Friday, Roh has steadily denied allegations that he violated the election law, saying the National Election Commission (NEC) has never declared his action a violation and ``only advised me to keep neutral in the general elections.’’

However, the situation looks gloomy for the troubled president, as the NEC decided to go before the Constitutional Court to testify that the president’s request for support for the pro-government Uri Party was a violation of the election law, which prohibits pre-electioneering before the April 15 elections.

In addition to the violation of the election law, the main opposition Grand National Party and the minor opposition Millennium Democratic Party had argued the president deserved to be impeached for his involvement in illegal campaign funding by his close aides and confidants.

Still, a large number of legal experts dismissed the opposition’s reason for impeachment as groundless.

``To impeach the president for such scandals, the political parties must first prove the president’s direct involvement,’’ said a law professor at a Seoul college, who asked not to be identified, in an interview with The Korea Times.

The opposition parties also claimed that Roh neglected his constitutional duties to protect the people’s rights to welfare and happiness by misgoverning the national economy and diplomacy.

However, the legal expert denounced the opposition’s claim, saying no one ever faces criminal charges for policy failures.

``The impeachment right is mandated to the legislative body so that it can prosecute high government officials, including the president, when there are serious violations of the Constitution or the law,’’ the professor said.

``The (impeachment) power is given to the National Assembly because the law understands that it is not easy for the prosecution to indict high-government officials or the president,’’ he added.

Other legal experts also argued that the only issue left to be dealt with by the Constitutional Court in the opposition-led impeachment was Roh’s alleged violation of the election law.

``The Constitution states that an impeachment motion may be filed against a high-ranking government official when, and only when, there is a serious violation of the Constitution or the law,’’ another law professor at Seoul National University told The Korea Times on condition of anonymity.

``His (Roh’s) involvement in the corruption scandals has yet to be proven, and the opposition’s accusation of his misgovernment may not be a sufficient allegation for impeachment because it does not involve any violation of the law,’’ he said.

Although he declined to mention whether the Constitutional Court should dismiss the impeachment as groundless, the professor said the court will have to consider whether a violation of the election law constitutes a serious enough crime to impeach the head of state.

``The National Election Commission is only a quasi-judicial organization, which means its decisions cannot be final. It is the court that decides whether an act is in violation of the law,’’ he said.

benjamine@koreatimes.co.kr