Loyalists turning back on Park, too
More loyalists to President Park Geun-hye in the ruling Saenuri Party appear to be turning their backs on the scandal-ridden leader ahead of an impeachment vote scheduled for Friday.
A poll released Monday showed that a dozen Park loyalists — mostly first- or second-term lawmakers — are likely to vote in favor of impeachment.
The party, controlled by Park loyalists, earlier called on Park to announce her resignation in April and pave the way for an early presidential election in June to minimize chaos during the transfer of power. The pro-Park party leadership had been negative toward the opposition-led impeachment efforts.
Reflecting the changing atmosphere in the party, Saenuri floor leader Rep. Chung Jin-suk said the party will allow its lawmakers to vote “freely” on the impeachment motion.
“It’s hard to stick to the party’s official position of seeking Park’s resignation by April and holding a presidential election in June anymore,” Chung told reporters.
“I believe once the vote is open on Friday as scheduled, all our lawmakers may as well participate and vote according to their consciences.”
He added that Saenuri chairman Rep. Lee Jung-hyun, a staunch loyalist of the President, agreed to the idea.
A drastic turn in their position came after rival Saenuri factions decided to participate in the impeachment vote, raising the possibility of its passage.
A total of 29 lawmakers including former party chairman Kim Moo-sung, a de-facto leader of the anti-Park faction, assembled Sunday and agreed to support impeachment regardless of whether the President announces a timetable for her resignation.
Their support secures the two-thirds majority of the 300-member assembly. The impeachment motion, signed by 171 lawmakers, requires at least 28 votes from the ruling party assuming 172 opposition and independent lawmakers all vote in favor.
The move caused agitation among Park’s supporters.
“It is inevitable the motion will be endorsed,” a Park loyalist said. “Many fellow lawmakers now think we have no choice but to vote. We may as well impeach the President who has been in a vegetative state.”
Once committed to participating in the vote, even the President’s supporters are more likely to lean toward voting in favor of impeachment, said another lawmaker who is a Park loyalist.
“Even if it is a secret ballot, it’s difficult to vote against the overwhelming public sentiment,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chairman Lee said he will urge Park to express her position on the party’s call to resign in April. “As far as I understand, Park appears ready to accept the roadmap soon,” Lee said.
Party officials interpreted Lee’s remarks as an attempt to glue Park followers together as he also detected that many lawmakers who backed Park’s orderly resignation are changing their minds.
Earlier in the day, the two rival factions indefinitely postponed discussions on replacing the current pro-Park party leaders and setting up an interim leadership — a move that had proceeded as part of their efforts to salvage the party hit hard by a corruption scandal involving the President and her confidant Choi Soon-sil.
While driven toward impeachment, the loyalist and rival factions are psychologically breaking down, a party official said. Their split has widened after anti-Park lawmakers decided to participate in the impeachment vote, a few days after agreeing to make Park’s term end soon, he noted.