South Korean President Park Geun-hye accused of violating the Constitution

According to Yonhap news agency, opposition parties in South Korea on December 3 submitted a petition to impeach President Park Geun-hye to the National Assembly, accusing her of violating the Constitution.

The proposal is expected to be voted on at the plenary session of the legislature on December 9.

President Park Geun-hye speaks at a ceremony in Busan, South Korea, on October 27. (Photo: EPA/ Yonhap/VNA)

In the petition, opposition parties claimed that President Park had violated the Constitution as well as many other laws, stressing that she had abused the power entrusted to her by the people.

The parties accuse Park of allowing her close friend Choi Soon-sil, who holds no official government position, to interfere in state affairs and disrupt the market system by forcing large conglomerates to donate money to two non-profit foundations. They also say Park failed to protect people’s lives as required by the Constitution, as evidenced by the Sewol ferry sinking in April 2014 that killed 304 people.

To pass, the motion needs to be supported by at least 200 out of 300 lawmakers, meaning at least 28 lawmakers from the ruling Saenuri Party must join the effort.

Within the ruling Saenuri Party, those loyal to President Park opposed the impeachment motion and suggested that the leader should voluntarily resign by the end of April 2017; while those who do not support her have called on her to present a specific plan for her resignation by December 7, otherwise they will support impeachment./.

According to Vietnamplus