Democratic Party struggles with no fasting exit strategy
Watch out for the possibility of a warrant being filed this week
Lee, if he refuses to sign the interrogation report again
Burden of requesting a warrant without additional investigation
“Stop fasting to hinder investigation”
▲ Senior Democratic Party members visited with Representative Lee Jae-myung
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who has been on hunger strike for 12 days, is meeting with senior lawmakers and talking to them at a tent in front of the National Assembly on the morning of the 11th. Yonhap News On his 12th day of fasting, Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, failed for the first time to fast and work at the same time, revealing his physical limitations. Following former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon, leading Democratic Party lawmakers recommended an end to the fast, but Representative Lee announced that he would not only press ahead with the fast but also re-appear before the prosecution on the 12th. However, the Democratic Party is deeply concerned as it lacks an exit strategy due to the ruling party’s ‘bulletproof fasting’ offensive.
Representative Lee did not attend the Supreme Council meeting held at the hunger strike tent in front of the National Assembly headquarters on the morning of the 11th, and lay down in the party representative’s office, then moved to the tent at around 10:40 a.m. and met Basic Income Party lawmaker Yong Hye-in and others. He was unable to attend his first duty schedule. Representative Lee’s representative explained, “It is not an emergency situation, but we did not attend the Supreme Council meeting in order to minimize the schedule.” However, CEO Lee’s energy has decreased rapidly since the day before, and he is often found lying down unless he is participating in official events or meeting guests.
Senior lawmakers with four or more terms in the party, including former National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seok, National Assembly Vice-Speaker Kim Young-ju, Seol Hoon, Ahn Min-seok, Kim Sang-hee, Kim Tae-nyeon, Noh Woong-rae, Ahn Gyu-baek, Woo Sang-ho, Yun Ho-jung, Lee In-young, and Jeong Seong-ho, visited the tent that day and recommended Representative Lee to stop fasting.
Former Chairman Park said, “I believe that Representative Lee’s intentions have been widely recognized by the public through fasting for 12 days,” and added, “Because these are not issues that will end in a short period of time, I recommend that you stop fasting and recover your health.” In response, Representative Lee said, “The government does not seem to be interested in things such as people’s livelihood, economy, peace, and safety. Even if I speak, I can’t even hear… “He effectively refused.
Voices calling for an end to fasting are spreading within the party, but there is no clear opportunity to end the fast. The demand for ‘President Yoon Seok-yeol’s public apology’ that Representative Lee presented as a condition for fasting is highly unlikely to be accepted, and it is also unlikely that the ruling party leadership will dissuade Representative Lee from fasting. Accordingly, some say that former President Moon Jae-in should take action.
Meanwhile, Representative Lee decided to respond to the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office’s request to reappear on the 12th in connection with the suspicion of Ssangbangwool remittances to North Korea. Kwon Chil-seung, chief spokesperson for the Democratic Party, said, “Many people are worried about his health, but Representative Lee has a strong will to be investigated,” adding, “If the prosecution abuses its power, such as recklessly manipulating even this investigation, the party will do everything it can.” “We have no choice but to use it to respond,” he said.
Representative Lee’s decision to re-appear, with his energy waning, is interpreted as an attempt to highlight himself as a ‘victim’ and emphasize the ‘coerciveness’ of the prosecution. As on the 9th, if Representative Lee does not sign the suspect interrogation form in this investigation, the prosecution will have the burden of requesting an arrest warrant without further investigation. In this case, the Democratic Party has justification to reject the arrest motion on the grounds that it is not a ‘legitimate request for an arrest warrant.’
The Democratic Party believes that the prosecution’s request for his re-appearance is intended to solidify the ‘bulletproof frame’ by placing a motion for Representative Lee’s arrest on the Chuseok dinner table, and is paying close attention to the possibility that the prosecution will request an arrest warrant as early as this week. Representative Ahn Min-seok said in a broadcast, “It is expected that (the arrest motion) will be reported to the plenary session on the 18th and voted on at the plenary session on the 20th or 21st (before Chuseok).”
In response to this, Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, said, “I have concerns about reaching out because it is a fast without justification,” and urged, “Stop fasting to build a justification for overturning the waiver of the privilege of non-arrest and to interfere with the investigation.”
Reporters Ha Jong-hoon, Choi Hyun-wook, and Kim Joo-hwan
2023-09-11 09:10:21
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