PPP floor leader Chung Jum-sik announced the stance at a general meeting of party lawmakers held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 29th, saying, "The opposition party will move to block this with the determination that dropping the charges (against President Lee Jae-myung) must never happen, even if it kills us."
Earlier, on the 18th of this month, President Lee asked the National Assembly to delete the provision on withdrawing indictments from the special counsel bill. But the PPP argues that even without the clause, a special counsel investigation could lead to the withdrawal of charges in Lee's case.
"They say it's fine because the special counsel won't be given the authority to drop charges, but that's a con game on the public," Chung said. "Setting out with a predetermined conclusion of fabricated indictment and ordering a foregone-conclusion investigation is itself a build-up to withdrawing the charges, carried out with that goal already fixed." He added a sharp criticism: "If the Lee Jae-myung administration insists on pushing through the withdrawal of charges, it must keep in mind that this is the road to impeachment, resignation and the fall of the government."
The Democratic Party had initially planned to pass the special counsel bill on the 1st of next month but decided to delay it until after the parliamentary audit after gauging opinion within the party again. Jeon Eun-su, the Democratic Party's floor spokesperson, said, "Please see it as a decision made to show earnestly that the motto of the parliamentary audit is going all-in on people's livelihoods."
