The anti-Park Geun-hye lawmakers of the governing Saenuri Party have agreed to take part in an impeachment vote scheduled for Friday at the National Assembly. They attached a condition that they will do this if the rival parties fail to reach a consensus on the timing of President Park Geun-hye’s resignation and the follow-up political roadmap. But the vote is likely to take place as opposition lawmakers are refusing to negotiate, saying what the people want is her immediate resignation.
The anti-Park lawmakers’ decision to vote on a motion to impeach the scandal-ridden President is clearly in response to the will of the people displayed during Saturday’s candlelit protests. But the parties are headed for impeachment unilaterally, turning a deaf ear to calls for dialogue and compromise, the basic tenets of politics.
True, the magnitude of Park’s culpability is egregious, considering that she let her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil pull strings from behind the scenes in state affairs. Her offer last week to leave her fate to the legislature is undeniably a shallow attempt to buy time and avoid impeachment.
Nonetheless, we have preferred Park’s “orderly departure” from office to impeachment, especially because the latter could be the start of bigger chaos regardless of its outcome. Should the impeachment motion be voted down, the public and the opposition might not accept the result, resulting in candlelit protests spiraling out of control.
Even in the event of the motion being approved, confusion could continue in the run-up to the Constitutional Court’s ruling that could take up to six months amid mounting calls for Park’s immediate resignation.
Opposition lawmakers, in particular, can’t avoid criticism of turning away from political solutions merely to take an advantageous position before the next presidential election. That the opposition does not even attempt to discuss how to fix the current mess in state affairs after the impeachment vote is a testament to how irresponsible the people in the opposition are.
There is speculation that the opposition might push for the resignation of Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn who will take over as acting president after Park’s impeachment, depending on the power of the candlelit protesters once again. This would betray the democratic procedures stipulated in our Constitution.
The candlelit protests that flood downtown Seoul streets every weekend can never be called normal, no matter how peacefully they proceed. It’s long overdue for the public to restore calm and resume normal activity amid deepening concern about a fresh economic crisis.
That is why both the ruling and opposition parties should act responsibly. They need to put national safety before partisan interests. Once impeachment is inevitable, the President, the parties and the people will have to honor and accept the result of the vote so that it can serve as the end of the problem.