Yet another member of the National Assemly has lost his seat (KTimes):
The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a lower court’s jail sentence to an opposition party lawmaker and stripped him of the post.
Earlier, the appellate court handed down a one-year jail sentence suspended for two years to Rep. Lee Jung-il of the minor opposition Democratic Party for breaching a communication privacy protection law.
The 59-year-old politician was arrested in March 2005 on charges of directing his secretary to illegally wiretap conversations in one of his rival’s campaign offices during the parliamentary elections in April 2004.
Here is his profile at the National Assembly homepage (see it while you can, his personal homepage is already down). His district in the southwest corner of South Jeolla Province includes Jindo, home of the famously surly Jindo Dog (which is not for eating) and a ‘Moses miracle.’
This will set up a bye-election fight between the Democrats and the Uri party and presents Uri Chairman Kim Geun-tae with a chance to stop his party’s bleeding. It will not be a cakewalk: The Democrats won that seat last time (obviously) and they are the second most successful party in Korea (after the Grand National Party) over the past two years. The Democrats even picked up an old Uri seat in last May’s bye-elections.
BTW, I did a quick count over at the National Assembly home page and here are the current party numbers:
- Uri (Our Open Party): 142
- Grand National Party: 126
- Democratic party: 12-1 = 11*
- Democratic labor Party: 9
- People First Party: 5 (including the Devil)
- Independents: 5
*I thought that you only needed 10 to become a floor negotiating group but the Democrats do not seem to be listed as one. Am I wrong? Was the bar raised?
BTW2, My prediction that Uri would break up by the end of the year is not looking so good right now. While that might make the GNP happy, it certainly puts some egg on my face.
5 Comments
Would it help if I said that Lee had nice boobies?
LOL…If he’s been forced out of office, do you think the Democrats still stand a good chance of winning the seat again, with with a fresh, new face?
…I mean, “even with a fresh, new face?” Or are voters just so sick of the Uridang that the Minjudang can win anyhow?
In addition to the Jindo dog and the “Moses Miracle,” isn’t Jindo also the home of Jindo Arirang, widely considered to be the most plaintive and soulful version of that song?
The Democrats picked up an old Uri seat in the last bye-elections, so its possible that they could lose this one. Uri should have a shot at picking this one up but I have a feeling that they will find a way to lose again.