A group of ruling Saenuri Party lawmakers critical of President Park Geun-hye announced Friday that they have gathered enough votes to pass an impeachment motion against her. 

The dissenting group said that more than 40 lawmakers would join the opposition parties and independents, whose seats total 172 after one Saenuri lawmaker quit the party Tuesday, in voting for the motion. At least 28 votes from Saenuri are needed to meet requirement of 200 votes in the 300-seat Assembly.

Rep. Hwang Young-cheul, spokesman of the emergency council for the dissenting group, noted the estimate is based on a survey of Saenuri lawmakers attending the group. He added the number of supporters may be higher if other Saenuri members are counted.

“We are going to collect signatures from them to endorse an impeachment motion,” Hwang told reporters at the National Assembly. But the lawmaker said that the group would not reveal who had agreed to approve the motion before the voting session.

Faced with mounting calls to impeach the president among the party’s heavyweight dissenters, Saenuri lawmakers decided not to present a united front when casting their ballots during the impeachment vote, leaving the decision up to individual lawmakers.

Opposition parties are working to have the motion put to a vote in plenary sessions scheduled to take place on Dec. 2 and Dec. 9. The floor leaders of the Democratic Party of Korea, People’s Party and Justice Party agreed on Thursday to pass the motion in time for the upcoming session. 

If the impeachment motion reaches the floor, the lawmakers are to cast their votes in a secret ballot between 24 and 72 hours after proposing the measure. More than 150 lawmakers are needed to submit the motion.

But Saenuri floor leader Rep. Chung Jin-suk reiterated his opposition to the timeframe, highlighting that the Assembly should finalize other legislative processes first before pushing through with impeachment motion.

“I’m not saying I want to oppose or avoid the impeachment process,” Chung told reporters after meeting with rank-and-file Saenuri lawmakers on Friday. “We should think more about how to prepare for the impeachment than just passing the motion.”

Chung warned that if the lawmakers pursued the impeachment motion too hastily, the nation could face a political deadlock caused by a lengthy impeachment process. He also noted that the nation could be in turmoil, if the presidential election took place earlier than scheduled without preparation.

“If the Assembly passes the motion in early December and the Constitutional Court approves it within two to three months, the presidential election has to be held in March,” Chung said. “The hasty election will seriously damage the legitimacy of the next administration.”

Chung noted that the upcoming plenary sessions should be devoted to passing annual budget bills of 4 trillion won ($3.4 billion). In the meantime, he urged the lawmakers to focus on parliamentary probe targeting the Choi scandal and move to have President Park testify before the lawmakers.

Choi Soon-sil, senior presidential aides and business leaders have been summoned by the lawmakers to testify over the allegation that they allowed Choi to meddle in state affairs. The investigation is slated to take place on Dec 5, 6, 13 and 14.

(jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)