◀ anchor ▶
Controversy over the separation of the prosecution’s investigative powers is spreading in all directions.
In particular, in the position of the National Election Commission that it is impossible to put this bill to a national referendum, Yoon Seok-yeol, the elected president, started to drive public opinion, arguing that it is not possible to change the law.
The Democratic Party dismissed the idea as unconstitutional and emphasized the responsibility of Justice Minister candidate Han Dong-hoon.
Reporter Kun-Hwi Kim reports.
◀ Report ▶
When the president-elect Yoon Seok-yeol’s proposal to put the separation of the prosecution’s investigative powers to a referendum came out, negative opinions from the National Election Commission and academia immediately followed, saying ‘it is difficult at present’.
In 2014, the Constitutional Court ruled that the referendum law was inconsistent with the Constitution, saying that it was insufficient to guarantee the right to vote abroad.
Then, Jang Je-won, the chief of the secretary-elect, who first brought up the referendum proposal, refuted whether the law could be changed to allow voting.
The People’s Power also held a public debate and kept pace, arguing that the law to separate investigative powers could be subject to a referendum.
[이준석 / 국민의힘 대표]
“I think that if the party needs support, it should be immediately revised in the referendum, especially in the restricted areas of overseas citizens.”
It is interpreted as a strategy to continue the public opinion battle against the separation of investigative powers until the local elections by holding a referendum as it is impossible to prevent the passage of the law to separate the investigative powers from passing by the National Assembly.
The Democratic Party counterattacked that the referendum claim is an unconstitutional idea that infringes on the legislative power of the National Assembly and, rather, that the relocation of the presidential office is a matter to be decided by a referendum.
At the same time, he expanded the front line by bringing up the theory of responsibility for the candidacy of Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon.
He intensified the offensive by saying that he is the de facto power that overturned the arbitration plan to separate the prosecution’s investigative powers with one phone call.
[박홍근 / 더불어민주당 원내대표]
“The Yoon Seok-yeol government’s decision-making is ‘everything,’ and if it is Han Dong-hoon, it will be a free pass.”
[조응천 / 더불어민주당 의원 (MBC 라디오 ‘김종배의 시선집중’)]
“Last time, I came out and said that I was the Minister of the Interior, but now it is not the Minister of the Crown, it is an order of communication.”
He also criticized the fact that he was talking about blocking the bill as a non-ministerial candidate, saying that he was considering the next presidential election in five years.
It seems that the Democratic Party’s strategy is to focus arrows on candidate Han Dong-hoon, who is about to hold a personnel hearing, and move on to a full-fledged verification phase.
This is Kim Gun-hwi from MBC News.
Video coverage: Seo Doo-beom, Park Joo-young / Video editing: Choi Seung-ho
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