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| ▲ Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, speaks during a meeting of the party's Supreme Council at the National Assembly in Seoul, in this file photo taken Feb. 16, 2023, denouncing the prosecution's request for an arrest warrant for him. Lee claimed the government of President Yoon Suk Yeol is using the prosecution for a "personal desire to remove a political enemy" after the prosecution sought a warrant earlier in the day to arrest him over a development corruption scandal and bribery allegations. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ A motion requesting parliamentary consent to opposition leader Lee Jae-myung's arrest is being reported in a plenary session at the National Assembly on Feb. 24, 2023, in the last step ahead of a vote on the motion. (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) opposition leader-arrest motion
(LEAD) National Assembly to vote on opposition leader arrest
(ATTN: UPDATES with DP floor leader's quote)
By Lee Minji
SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Yonhap) -- The National Assembly was set to vote on the government's request for consent to arrest opposition leader Lee Jae-myung over corruption charges Monday amid widespread views his Democratic Party will use its majority power to reject the request.
The DP, which holds 169 seats in the 299-member National Assembly, has denounced the prosecution's attempt to arrest Lee as political revenge by President Yoon Suk Yeol against his presidential election rival and vowed to reject the request.
By law, parliamentary consent is necessary to arrest a lawmaker while parliament is in session.
"We will block the consent motion for Chairman Lee Jae-myung's arrest," DP floor leader Park Hong-keun said during a party meeting. "The Democratic Party will stop the tyranny by the Yoon Suk Yeol prosecution dictatorship regime and prevent the retrogression of history."
Though the motion is widely expected to be voted down, there are still chances, albeit slim, of it passing if dissenting votes come in large numbers among DP lawmakers and members of the minor opposition Justice Party, and independents vote for it.
Prosecutors had earlier sought an arrest warrant for Lee over development corruption and bribery allegations arising from his time as the mayor of Seongnam, south of Seoul, from 2010-2018. It marked the first time that an arrest warrant has been sought for the head of the country's largest opposition party.
Lee has claimed his innocence, rejecting all allegations against him as fabrication.
The ruling People Power Party has urged Lee to give up his immunity from arrest and show up for a court hearing on the arrest warrant. It has criticized the DP for opening temporary parliamentary sessions to protect its leader from arrest.
If prosecutors fail to win parliamentary consent for Lee's arrest, their arrest warrant request against him is automatically dismissed. In that case, prosecutors are widely expected to indict the opposition leader without detention.
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