Democratic Party launches election law reform effort

[Anchor]

However, within the Democratic Party, there are moves to push for amendments to the Public Official Election Act, and the ruling and opposition parties are once again engaged in a war of words.

Both parties offer conflicting analyses on how the amended election law will affect the second trial of Representative Lee Jae-myung, who received a disqualification sentence in the first trial under the law.

Woo Jeong-hwa reports.

[Report]

Park Hee-seung, a member of the Democratic Party and a former judge, has proposed two amendments to the Public Official Election Act, one after another, starting from the day of the first trial ruling in Representative Lee Jae-myung's election law case.

In the first amendment, the provision for the crime of false facts publication, for which Representative Lee received a one-year prison sentence, was completely deleted.

The second amendment significantly raised the threshold for disqualification from the current 1 million won to 10 million won.

It was justified by stating that the difference from fines for other crimes is substantial.

At a forum held around this time, Representative Lee stated, "There is a saying that politicians walk on the edge of prison walls," and expressed that it is inevitable to amend the current election law, which excessively restricts election campaigns.

In response, the People Power Party argued that the abolition of the crime of false facts publication is aimed at achieving 'exemption' for Lee.

[Han Dong-hoon/People Power Party Leader/Nov. 21: "The prison sentence crime (of Representative Lee Jae-myung) will completely disappear with an exemption ruling. They are trying to save Representative Lee by destroying the judicial system...."]

The Democratic Party stated that in the case of the 'abolition of the crime of false facts publication,' it is explicitly mentioned in the supplementary provisions that 'it cannot be applied to previous cases,' asserting that it cannot be applied to Representative Lee's second trial.

[Park Hee-seung/Democratic Party Member/Nov. 22: "'They are misleading the public with 'interpretation of the law.' They have distorted the facts without properly verifying the contents of the bill."]

However, the People Power Party continues to claim that it is about 'saving Representative Lee Jae-myung.'

The supplementary provisions can be deleted at any time during the legislative process, and even if they are not deleted, if the election law is amended in the future, the court will have no choice but to consider the intent of the law amendment, which could lower Representative Lee's sentence to below the disqualification threshold.

While it has long been a practice for the ruling and opposition parties to handle election laws through consensus, if the Democratic Party pushes through with its numerical superiority, it could become another flashpoint in the confrontation between the two parties.

KBS News, Woo Jeong-hwa.