TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - South Korean lawmakers finally decided to impeach President Park Geun-hye on Friday, December 9, 2016. The decision marks a stunning and swift fall for the country's first female leader amid protests that drew millions into the streets in united fury.
Once formal documents are handed over to the presidential Blue House, Park will be stripped of her power while Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, will assume leadership until the country's Constitutional Court issued related to Park’s permanent dismissal.
In response to the decision, President Park refused to make any comments, but instead plan to organize a Cabinet meeting where she is expected to speak publicly. The hand-over of power prompted the prime minister to order South Korea's defense minister to put the military on a state of heightened readiness to brace for any potential provocation by North Korea although no suspicious movements were reported.
The South Korea Constitutional Court will have 180 days to decide Park's fate. President Park will be formally removed from office if at least six of the court's nine justices supported her impeachment. If Park is indeed dismissed the country will have to hold a presidential election within 60 days after the decision is made.
Once called the "Queen of Elections" for her ability to pull off wins for her party, Park has been surrounded in the Blue House in recent weeks by millions of South Koreans who protested over an alleged collusion by Park with a longtime friend to extort money from companies, and to give that particular confidante extraordinary sway over government decisions.
National Assembly speaker Chung Sye-kyun said the bill on Park's impeachment was passed by a vote of 234 for and 56 opposed, with seven invalid votes and two abstentions. The result well exceeded the necessary two-thirds vote required in the 300-seat assembly, with the opposition getting strong support from members of Park's party.
AP
