Ahn Cheol-soo Urges "Start Discussions on Bipartisan Special Prosecutor Bill"... Proposes Mediation Plan Involving Four Parties

The Democratic Party is behind the accusation leak, and the People Power Party is behind Daejang-dong
"The party rejecting the proposal is the culprit"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, urged the Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party to discuss the 'dual special prosecutor bill' and insisted that investigations by special prosecutors should commence within this year. Along with this, he proposed delegating the investigation of the alleged report-for-prosecution scandal to the Democratic Party and the Daejang-dong scandal to the People Power Party, while suggesting a mediation plan involving the four parliamentary parties in the special prosecutor process.

On the 21st, Ahn held a press conference at the National Assembly and said, "I strongly urge the Democratic Party and the People Power Party to promptly begin discussions on the dual special prosecutor bill today," adding, "For the Blue House to be clean, presidential candidates from both ruling and opposition parties must be free from any corruption suspicions or allegations. If there are any, they must be thoroughly investigated."

He stated, "Unfortunately, the two candidates from the entrenched parties are each trapped in allegations of being the 'mastermind behind the Daejang-dong corruption gate' and the 'backer of the report-for-prosecution scandal.' The investigations by the prosecution and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials are met with near rejection and distrust from the public," and questioned, "In such a situation, would reasonable citizens believe the investigation results even if they are announced?"

He then referred to Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, who expressed willingness to accept a special prosecutor for the Daejang-dong case, and Yoon Seok-youl, the People Power Party’s presidential candidate, who showed readiness to accept the dual special prosecutor system including the report-for-prosecution issue, stating, "The National Assembly must immediately start discussions on the two special prosecutor bills so that investigations by special prosecutors can begin swiftly, no later than the end of the year."

He proceeded to propose a mediation plan to each party. Ahn said, "The fastest way for the special prosecutor bill to pass is for each party to accept the other’s claims without modification," and explained, "Delegating the enactment of the special prosecutor bill and the recommendation of special prosecutors related to the report-for-prosecution scandal to the Democratic Party, and delegating the enactment and recommendation related to the Daejang-dong gate to the People Power Party."

He also insisted that parties unrelated to the cases should be responsible for evaluating the special prosecutor bills to ensure fairness. He explained, "The evaluation of whether the special prosecutor bills are reasonable and fair can be entrusted to the People’s Party and the Justice Party, which are non-negotiating parliamentary parties," adding, "Guaranteeing mutual veto rights for special prosecutor recommendations, and if a veto occurs, rather than having the relevant party re-nominate, entrusting the People’s Party and the Justice Party would be a good way to secure fairness."

After the press conference, when asked by reporters about the possibility of acceptance by the two major parties, he replied, "If each party is confident, there is no reason not to accept it," and added, "I think the party that rejects this proposal is the culprit."

He further explained that if the two major parties do not cooperate, "(The Justice Party and the People’s Party) as the two parliamentary parties will urge once again, and if necessary, we may visit the presidential candidates of the entrenched two parties to persuade them," he said.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.