International News

SEOUL, (MILLAT+APP/AFP) – South Korea’s ruling party
on Thursday urged scandal-hit President Park Geun-Hye to step down in April next year, giving her a week to accept their ultimatum or risk impeachment.
Park this week said she would be willing to step down early after
coming under huge pressure to quit over an influence peddling scandal that has drawn more than a million people onto the streets in protest.
The ruling Saenuri Party’s 128 lawmakers unanimously agreed to demand
Park resign in late April and called for a presidential election to be held in June, six months earlier than scheduled.
“All the lawmakers of the party unanimously approved this timetable”,
parliamentary floor leader Chung Jin-Suk was quoted as saying by the Yonhap
news agency after a crucial party meeting.
The party considered the timetable the most appropriate to ensure a
peaceful transfer of power, maintain stability and give political parties time to prepare for the presidential election, Chung said.
Park said Tuesday she would let parliament decide her fate following
accusations that she colluded with Choi Soon-Sil — a secretive confidante
dubbed “Korea’s Rasputin” — to coerce firms to “donate” tens of millions of
dollars to foundations which were used for Choi’s personal gain.
Park has been named as a suspect in the investigation, making her the
first sitting president to be subject to a criminal probe while in office.
And although Park’s announcement reduced the momentum of calls for
her impeachment, the main opposition Democratic Party insisted that Park should be stripped of office by the end of January.
“All South Koreans want Park to leave as soon as possible… they
don’t want her to stick around so long,” its leader Choo Mi-Ae said.
Lawmakers from Park’s own party had backed the opposition-led move to
impeach her as early as this Friday.
But one of them, former Saenuri Party head Kim Moo-Sung, said they
were now willing to give Park four months to leave office.
“If the president agrees to step down on April 30, there is no need
to push through with impeachment”, Kim said.
The party would give Park until Thursday next week to accept their
demand.