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President Roh gets back his seat
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-05-14 22:58
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun returned to work in a stronger position
on Friday after a Constitutional Court reinstated him by overturning
parliament's unprecedented vote to impeach him nine weeks ago.
South Korean
President Roh Moo-hyun (R) looks at Prime Minister Goh Kun at a dinner
meeting at the presidential Blue House in Seoul May 14, 2004. President
Roh returned to work in a stronger position on Friday after the
Constitutional Court reinstated him by overturning the parliament's
unprecedented vote to impeach him.
[Reuters] |
Roh had been in political limbo since the opposition-led chamber voted amid
rowdy scenes on March 12 to impeach him -- barely a year into his single
five-year term -- for breach of an election law, economic mismanagement and
corruption among aides.
A majority of the court's nine crimson-robed judges ruled these were not
grounds enough to oust the leader of the world's 12th-largest economy and thrust
it into chaos amid a nascent economic recovery and a crisis over the North's
nuclear aims.
"When I think of the seriousness of the trial, the political vacuum and the
social costs, my heart still hurts," Moon Jae-in, Roh's lawyer and former chief
of staff, told reporters.
After lunch with aides on Friday, Roh returned to his office in the sprawling
Blue House compound for the first time in nine weeks to draft a speech he will
make on television on Saturday. He had left the grounds only a few times,
including to vote in last month's parliamentary election won by the pro-Roh Uri
Party.
"The court decision is a victory for the people," chanted Roh supporters
outside the court as cars circled flying yellow balloons, the Uri Party's colour
and Roh's favourite.
To the tune of the 1973 song "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree",
hundreds of "Nosamo" (We Love Roh) group members gathered for a celebratory rock
concert later at a major intersection festooned with balloons and ribbons.
"No is Yes!," read the yellow headbands of many supporters. Roh is pronounced
"No" in Korean.
While politically empowered after seeing off the opposition, Roh now faces
the task of proving he can successfully reform the country unimpeded, with a
newly compliant parliament.
But in what political analysts saw as a slap on the wrist for the impulsive
Roh, the court said in its ruling the president had violated election laws, if
unintentionally, and breached the constitution by calling for a referendum on
his rule.
But the transgressions were not grave enough to oust Roh and force an
election, it said.
Yun Young-chul, the president of the court, said in the televised reading of
the judges' opinions that the counts of mismanagement and corruption were not
grounds for impeachment.
"The court is overturning the case, since the impeachment case failed to win
the required majority votes," Yun said at the end of a 25-minute session. A
majority of six was needed.
The verdict meant Roh was automatically reinstated after two months spent
reading, feeding pheasants and hiking with his wife in the heavily guarded
mountains above the Blue House.
"He returned with even stronger powers. That will enable his government to
speed up and execute many pending policies," said Jwa Seung-hee, chief economist
at the Korea Economic Research think-tank.
"His priorities are to create jobs and revive the weak local economy. We also
hoped he could play a role in helping to calm foreign investors' concerns over
conflicts between management and labour unions."
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