But Opposition GNP Refuses to Retract Impeachment


By Yoo Dong-ho
Staff Reporter

The pro-government Uri Party and the Democratic Labor Party on Friday urged the opposition Grand National Party (GNP) to retract the impeachment against President Roh Moo-hyun.

``Thursday’s legislative polls showed that the unfairly unseated head of state should be reinstated,’’ Chung said at a news conference at the party headquarters after it won a majority in the general elections Thursday.

The impeachment is an offspring of the outgoing parliament’s political wrangling and thus should be politically solved before moving to next Assembly, Chung said.

The 52-year-old Uri leader also hinted at a one-on-one meeting with GNP counterpart Park Geun-hye, saying, ``Our party will bring an end to political wrangling and pursue policies catering to the public.’’

Kwon Young-ghil, leader of the DLP which won 10 seats in the elections, echoed Chung’s call for the impeachment withdrawal, saying that his party is ready to play the role of coordinator between Uri and GNP, which tumbled to the second larges party with 121 seats reserved for the incoming Assembly on June 1.

Since the mammoth opposition forces jointly engineered the unprecedented impeachment motion on March 12 on charges of Roh’s breach of election regulation and incompetence, the Constitutional Court has been deliberating on whether to uphold the parliamentary decision. It has about less than five months to rule on the case.

In Thursday’s polls, widely seen as a referendum on the impeached President, the pro-Roh Uri Party became the majority party by sweeping 152 seats in the new 299-member single-house legislature in what amounts to affect the court’s decision.

GNP leader Park responded to Chung’s claim, saying, ``It seems undesirable for political parties to meddle in or retract procedures that are taking place in the judicial branch.

``Whatever the court rules might be, the Uri Party also should give in.’’

She, however, gave an upbeat assessment of the bilateral meeting. ``If there are economic and welfare issues to discuss, I am willing to go to the Uri Party headquarters, and accept the proposed meeting.

``I will live up to my pledges to leave behind the political bickering and cater to those in need by boosting the economy,’’ she added.

Touching upon the polls, Park, the daughter of the late militant ruler Park Chung-hee, said that she would humbly accept the election results.

Meanwhile, Acting President Goh Kun issued a statement calling for an end to the ``abnormal situation’’ created by the Roh impeachment.

``It is important to bring an end to this abnormal situation as soon as possible in order to prevent it from affecting the nation’s economic recovery and foreign investors confidence.’’

yoodh@koreatimes.co.kr