How far a majority party can go off track
Published: 03 Dec. 2024, 19:44
The majority Democratic Party (DP) is going overboard to help its leader and other lawmakers mired in court battles. Rep. Ju Chul-hyun last week proposed a revision to the Criminal Act to narrow the scope of punishment on a bribe to a third person in order to not penalize suspects when private companies donate goods or money to local governments “for the sake of common interests.”
DP leader Lee Jae-myung is undergoing a trial on the charge of coercing companies in Seongnam to donate 13.4 billion won ($9.5 million) to the city’s football club in return for their favors when he was the mayor. Rep. Ju, a member of the Supreme Council of the DP, denied the revision’s apparent connection with the DP leader. But the records of Lee’s ongoing trial clearly show the revision is perfectly in line with his defense logic.
On Nov. 14, Rep. Park Hee-seong, another DP legislator and a former judge, submitted a revision to the Public Official Election Act to remove the two crimes of publicizing false information and defaming other candidates during election campaigns. But the following day, the lawmaker proposed another revision to the Election Act to lift the current fines of 1 million won to 10 million won for violations of the election law. If suspects are sentenced to more than 1 million won in fines, they cannot run for public office. Nov. 15 was the day when the DP leader was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years, for violating the election law in the past. If the revision passes in the National Assembly, the DP leader can expect a lighter punishment in his second trial.
Rep. Kim Kyo-heung, also a DP lawmaker, has submitted a revision to the Political Parties Act to apply a shorter six-month statute of limitations for committing illegal acts during primaries and a three-year statute of limitations for the escape and concealment of criminals and testifiers. The DP’s move is obviously aimed to help relieve 19 members of the party of their judicial risks from the cash handouts before its national convention to elect a new leader in 2021. If the revision goes into effect, seven current and past lawmakers of the DP can avoid indictments, not to mention four of them currently on trial. The majority party’s attempt to revise the law to rescue their colleagues from judicial risks doesn’t make sense.
Though it is bent on legislating for its own sake, the majority party ignores essential revisions. For instance, the DP opposes a revision to the Criminal Act aimed to expand the scope of our enemy from North Korea to “foreign countries” in the Espionage Act. A heated controversy arose after a civilian worker in our military had handed over sensitive information to China. We cannot but suspect the DP’s motive behind the opposition.
DP leader Lee Jae-myung is undergoing a trial on the charge of coercing companies in Seongnam to donate 13.4 billion won ($9.5 million) to the city’s football club in return for their favors when he was the mayor. Rep. Ju, a member of the Supreme Council of the DP, denied the revision’s apparent connection with the DP leader. But the records of Lee’s ongoing trial clearly show the revision is perfectly in line with his defense logic.
On Nov. 14, Rep. Park Hee-seong, another DP legislator and a former judge, submitted a revision to the Public Official Election Act to remove the two crimes of publicizing false information and defaming other candidates during election campaigns. But the following day, the lawmaker proposed another revision to the Election Act to lift the current fines of 1 million won to 10 million won for violations of the election law. If suspects are sentenced to more than 1 million won in fines, they cannot run for public office. Nov. 15 was the day when the DP leader was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years, for violating the election law in the past. If the revision passes in the National Assembly, the DP leader can expect a lighter punishment in his second trial.
Rep. Kim Kyo-heung, also a DP lawmaker, has submitted a revision to the Political Parties Act to apply a shorter six-month statute of limitations for committing illegal acts during primaries and a three-year statute of limitations for the escape and concealment of criminals and testifiers. The DP’s move is obviously aimed to help relieve 19 members of the party of their judicial risks from the cash handouts before its national convention to elect a new leader in 2021. If the revision goes into effect, seven current and past lawmakers of the DP can avoid indictments, not to mention four of them currently on trial. The majority party’s attempt to revise the law to rescue their colleagues from judicial risks doesn’t make sense.
Though it is bent on legislating for its own sake, the majority party ignores essential revisions. For instance, the DP opposes a revision to the Criminal Act aimed to expand the scope of our enemy from North Korea to “foreign countries” in the Espionage Act. A heated controversy arose after a civilian worker in our military had handed over sensitive information to China. We cannot but suspect the DP’s motive behind the opposition.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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