The floor leader of South Korea's main opposition party said Sunday he is opposed to moves that would abolish a lawmaker privilege that exempts him or her from liability from speeches made in parliament.
Rep. Woo Sang-ho of the Minjoo Party of Korea said that while he will take the lead in getting rid of various privileges enjoyed by lawmakers that have drawn public flak, certain rights need to be maintained if the National Assembly is to provide checks and balances to the executive branch of government.
"Once a committee is set up aimed at abolishing privileges enjoyed by lawmakers, political parties will be asked to take part in the deliberation process along with outside experts to screen which rights need to go and what has to be preserved," the third term lawmaker said.
The remarks come after Minjoo took criticism when one of its members was accused of nepotism.
On the issue of exemption from liability, which has often been used to make unfounded statements that do not have supporting evidence, the party whip pointed out that the right is critical for opposition lawmakers to do their job.
"This is something that has been written into the country's Constitution so as to allow important issues to be raised for public debate," Woo claimed.
The party leader said that lawmakers should not view immunity from liability as a right that can be abused. He said that if lawmakers check in advance that an allegation they will raise is based on facts there should be no serious problems with retaining the right. (Yonhap)
