Han Byung-do, acting leader and floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said Sunday he would introduce a special prosecutor act targeting the National Election Commission this week in response to the ballot shortage that marred the June 3 local elections. He also proposed that special prosecutor candidates be nominated by a neutral third party — such as the Korean Bar Association — to keep political rivalry between the parties to a minimum.
In a Facebook post that day, Han said the ballot shortage, which infringed on citizens' right to vote, was "an unprecedented event in constitutional history that cannot be excused by any justification," adding that he would introduce the special prosecutor act "to clearly establish the NEC's incompetence, poor administration and accountability."
The Democratic Party plans to use the special prosecutor investigation to focus on three areas: how the number of ballots printed was reduced, how reporting to election-day leadership was omitted or delayed, and what lies behind chronic administrative failures and management accountability within the NEC.
Han said he would "bring everyone responsible before the law, regardless of rank or position," stressing the need for a thorough investigation into the truth.
On the question of how the special prosecutor should be nominated, Han formally proposed a third-party recommendation process involving the Korean Bar Association and similar bodies. "The People Power Party is arguing that the Democratic Party should be excluded from the nomination process, but that puts political conflict ahead of finding the truth," he said. "Given the NEC's independence and political neutrality, having a credible third party recommend the special prosecutor is the fairest approach."
He then urged the PPP to "stop its partisan offensive and cooperate in passing the NEC special prosecutor act," saying the truth behind the incident must be transparently established "to restore public trust."
attom@heraldcorp.com
