Reduce legal burden and strengthen leadership when not guilty… Looks like a middle-of-the-road strategy, a rental offensive
The ‘judicial risk’ of Lee Jae-myeong, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, faces a second turning point with the first sentencing in the perjury teacher case on the 25th.
On the 24th, a day before the sentencing, the political world is paying close attention to whether Representative Lee will be found guilty or not guilty, and what the sentence will be if he is found guilty.
Lee Jae-myeong, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is leaving the court building after completing the first trial on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 15th. Yonhap News
This is because, in each case, it is expected to cause a chain reaction not only to the opposition party but also to the ruling party.
The worst-case scenario for CEO Lee is if the court’s decision results in a guilty verdict and a prison sentence is imposed. In this case, if a sentence higher than imprisonment is confirmed, the right to run for election will be revoked.
Regarding the violation of the Public Official Election Act on the 15th, the ‘heavy sentence’ sentence of one year in prison and two years of probation, which overturned expectations inside and outside the party, cannot help but be burdensome for Representative Lee. This is because there is a possibility that a strong decision will be made in the sentencing on the 25th.
If two consecutive sentences of deprivation of the right to run for election are sentenced within 10 days of each other, the shockwaves not only to Representative Lee but also to the Democratic Party are expected to be significant. On the contrary, the ruling party is poised to raise the level of offensive targeting Representative Lee’s judicial risks to the highest level.
At the level of the Democratic Party leadership, they will try to create public opinion to watch until the second and third trials by sending out the message, “Let’s unite around Representative Lee,” just as they did when the election law was announced, but the question mark over Representative Lee’s leadership and possibility of becoming the next president will grow even bigger. There is no choice but to do so.
At the time of the first trial ruling on the Election Act, there was a consensus within the party that it was a ‘political ruling to suppress the opposition party’, and regardless of faction, they formed a ‘unified team’ and went on a lending offensive, but this time, the impact may be different.
We cannot rule out the possibility that centrifugal force will grow from the ‘Lee Jae-myung unipolar system’ as a sense of crisis is rising within the party that an ‘alternative’ to Representative Lee must be found. Attention is also expected to be focused on the moves of Bimyeon (Bi Lee Jae-myeong).
The hard-core pro-Myung (pro-Lee Jae-myung) faction may push for a stronger movement to resign from power, such as impeaching the president or amending the constitution to shorten his term, but it is unclear how much momentum this will gain.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, attends the plenary session of the National Assembly on the 14th and looks determined. Yonhap News
On the other hand, if he is found not guilty, it is expected that Representative Lee will attempt to relieve the burden of judicial risk incurred by the first trial of the election law and attempt a counterattack against the ruling party. The Democratic Party’s position is that it is not guilty this time, just as it did when the election law was sentenced.
Representative Lee is accused of requesting false testimony from Kim Jin-seong, a former secretary to the late Kim Byeong-ryang, former mayor of Seongnam, during his trial on charges of publicizing false information in February 2019. Representative Lee said, “As I remember, as is. He claimed that he only said, “Please tell me,” and that he never instigated perjury.
It is expected that the immediate leadership and the pro-Myung faction will seek to strengthen Representative Lee’s leadership, saying that if the perjury teacher is found not guilty, the first trial ruling on the election law can be easily overturned in the appeals court under the argument that it was an “extraordinary and unusual judgment by an individual judge.”
Representative Lee will be able to focus on expanding the center using his pragmatic line of ‘muksanism’. One variable that was blocking Representative Lee’s next presidential bid has been eliminated.
A Democratic Party official said, “We are confident of his innocence, but we are nervously waiting for this sentence because the sentence in the first trial of the Election Act, which we thought would be relatively light, is too high.” He added, “No matter what the sentence is, there will be no shakeup in the ‘Lee Jae-myung system’ at all.”
On this day, Representative Lee conveyed to the Democratic Party members through Chief of Staff Lee Hae-sik, ‘It would be better not to come to the trial tomorrow.’ Representative Lee asked lawmakers to refrain from visiting even when he was sentenced for violating the Public Official Election Act on the 15th, but about 70 lawmakers gathered in front of the court.
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Source: www.segye.com
