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By Kim Hyo-jin
The ruling Saenuri Party is on the brink of a split over a motion to impeach the scandal-ridden President Park Geun-hye.
Most pro-Park lawmakers boycotted a party meeting on how to deal with the impeachment motion led by the opposition parties, making it a half-member gathering, Friday. Only about 60 of 128 lawmakers appeared, underscoring a widening gap between pro-Park and anti-Park members.
With the ruling bloc failing to find a breakthrough amid the corruption scandal involving the President and her confident Choi Soon-sil, Park's approval rating fell to as low 4 percent, an all-time low for elected Presidents in South Korean history. And the support rate of the Saenuri Party also stood at 12 percent, a record-low in the party's history, according to the latest Gallup poll.
The plunging approval ratings for both the President and the governing party are expected to escalate conflicts in the imploding ruling side, with the two Park factions colliding head-on over the move to impeach her.
With disgruntled pro-Park lawmakers absent from the meeting, floor leader Rep. Chung Jin-suk questioned whether the party should follow the timeline presented by the opposition.
Floor leaders of the three opposition parties agreed Thursday to put an impeachment motion to a vote within the regular session of the National Assembly, which will last until Dec. 9. They said the voting could be arranged on Dec. 2 at the earliest _ the day when a plenary session is scheduled to vote on the 2017 budget.
"I want to make it clear that I cannot accept either Dec. 2 or Dec. 9. We should focus on the envisioned parliamentary investigation of the scandal and the budget during that time period." Chung said. "Rather than hastily pushing for a vote on the impeachment motion, it's better to mull over every possible scenario to normalize state affairs first."
He asked fellow lawmakers to allow him the right to negotiate on the impeachment process with the opposition, only to receive the cold shoulder from participants, most of whom were anti-Park lawmakers.
Rep. Na Kyung-won, one of the senior lawmakers leading the anti-Park group, said, "A starting point to normalize state affairs can be voting on the impeachment motion."
Expressing concerns about the deepening public outcry over Park's resignation or impeachment, Rep. Ha Tae-keung, another anti-Park member, said, "If our party refuses to vote, we will be crushed by angry citizens who will pour onto Gwanghwamun Square tomorrow."
Chung later backed down in the face of the criticism. He denied that he was attempting to delay the voting, saying the party will leave the matter up to lawmakers, and not make it an official stance.
Meanwhile, Rep. Hwang Young-cheul confirmed that there are a minimum of 40 Saenuri Party lawmakers who are in favor of impeachment.
For the motion to be passed, a minimum of 28 votes were required from the ruling party. It needs support from two-thirds of the 300 Assemblymen. The opposition views that securing over 35 votes from the ruling party will be ideal assuming there could be some opponents among the 172 opposition and independent lawmakers.
