A South Korean legislative push to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived imposition of martial law fell through on Saturday after most members of his conservative governing party boycotted the vote.
The defeat of the motion is expected to intensify public protests calling for Mr Yoon’s ousting and deepen political chaos in South Korea, with a survey suggesting a majority of South Koreans support the president’s impeachment.
Mr Yoon’s martial law declaration drew criticism from his own ruling conservative party, but it is also determined to oppose Mr Yoon’s impeachment apparently because it fears losing the presidency to liberals.
Impeaching Mr Yoon required support from two-thirds of the National Assembly, or 200 of its 300 members.
The opposition parties who brought the impeachment motion had 192 seats, but only three politicians from PPP participated in the vote.
The motion was scrapped without ballot counting because the number of votes did not reach 200.
National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik called the result “very regrettable” and an embarrassing moment for the country’s democracy that has been closely watched by the world.
“The failure to hold a qualified vote on this matter means we were not even able to exercise the democratic procedure of deciding on a critical national issue,” he said.
Opposition parties could submit a new impeachment motion after a new parliamentary session opens next Wednesday.
After the motion fell through, members of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party rallied inside the National Assembly, chanting slogans calling for Mr Yoon’s impeachment or resignation.
The party’s floor leader, Park Chan-dae, said it will soon prepare for a new impeachment motion.
“We’ll surely impeach Yoon Suk Yeol, who is the greatest risk to Republic of Korea,” party leader Lee Jae-myung said.
“We’ll surely bring back this country to normal before Christmas Day or year’s end.”
Despite escaping the impeachment attempt, many experts worry Mr Yoon will not be able to serve out his remaining two and a half years in office.
They say some ruling party legislators could eventually join opposition parties’ efforts to impeach Mr Yoon if public demands for it grow further.
On Saturday, tens of thousands of people densely packed several blocks of roads leading up to the National Assembly, waving banners, shouting slogans and dancing.
Protesters also gathered in front of PPP’s headquarters near the Assembly, angrily shouting for its legislators to vote to impeach Mr Yoon.
A smaller crowd of Mr Yoon’s supporters, which still seemed to be in the thousands, rallied in separate streets in Seoul, decrying the impeachment attempt they saw as unconstitutional.
