Lee Jae-myung’s ‘Abolition of the Privilege of Non-Arrest’… This time, the power of the people was ignited.

Lee Jun-seok, chairman of the permanent election, attends and speaks at the 8th National Election Committee meeting held at the main building of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 13th. [김호영 기자]

The People’s Power is pushing for amendments to the law to prevent the abuse of the privilege of non-arrest by members of the National Assembly. The restriction on the privilege of non-arrest was a political reform initiative brought up by Lee and the Democratic Party in response to the attack on Daejang-dong during the Democratic presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung’s time.

At a meeting of the Central Election Countermeasures Committee for local elections held at the National Assembly on the 13th, Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People’s Power Party, said, “Recently, the act of running for bulletproof in order to abuse the privilege of non-arrest of a member of the National Assembly has emerged as a matter of public interest.” He also said, “The floor leadership asks us to study whether the privilege of non-arrest can be improved in the direction desired by the people more than the amendment made by the special committee on political reform in the 20th National Assembly in 2016.” It is interpreted that Lee Jae-myung, senior adviser of the Democratic Party of Korea, is running in Incheon by-election as an attempt to highlight that running in the by-election for the National Assembly is ‘a bulletproof run for abuse of the privilege of non-arrest’.

CEO Lee said, “The privilege of non-arrest is clearly a constitutional right, but its purpose is to prevent unreasonable oppression of the parliament by those in power, and it is a right that should not be used to defend against corruption in one’s job.” The restriction on the privilege of non-arrest of lawmakers was first brought up by then Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung in November last year, and he promised to push for abolition of lawmakers who committed serious crimes such as sex crimes.

At that time, at the Gyeonggi State Audit, when Rep. Kim Yong-pan, a member of the People’s Strength, raised the allegation that Park, a former gangster, had delivered cash to Lee, Lee directly refuted and insisted on limiting the immunity of the National Assembly member. Then, during the presidential election in February this year, the Democratic Party Innovation Promotion Committee announced that one of the agendas for political innovation was to limit the immunity of members of the National Assembly and the privilege of non-arrest. At that time, the people’s strength again protested, saying, “Since I became a presidential candidate, I have been putting up a shield against the opposition party that raises suspicions related to Daejang-dong.”

On the same day, floor leader Kwon Seong-dong also suggested the amendment of the bill, saying, “There was a talk by the party representative about the amendment to the privilege of non-arrest of members of the National Assembly. The privilege of not arresting members of the National Assembly is a matter specified in the Constitution to guarantee the freedom of speech, expression, and political activity of members of the National Assembly.

On the 13th, at the welcome ceremony for billiards player Cha Yoo-ram, billiards player Cha Yu-ram, held at the main building of the National Assembly building in Yeouido, Seoul on the 13th, Lee Jun-seok (representative) and Kwon Seong-dong ( floor leader) have a commemorative photo with Cha who signed the application for admission. [김호영 기자]

Therefore, as the total abolition is impossible without constitutional amendment, it seems highly likely that the people’s power will also be limited to specific crimes, such as Lee Jae-myung’s promise.

Democrats are struggling to respond. This is because it was first raised as a pledge during the presidential election, and if you recklessly oppose it because of the recent expulsion of Democratic Party lawmaker Park Wan-joo after a sexual assault case, you will be caught in the frame of ‘change words’.

[이지용 기자]
[ⓒ 매일경제 & mk.co.kr, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]