South Korea: Rival parties request parliamentary probe into ballot shortage in local elections

Seoul, June 8 (IANS) The rival parties in South Korea each submitted a request Monday for a parliamentary investigation into an unprecedented shortage of ballots in last week’s local elections, both calling for a thorough probe into what caused the incident but differing over its scope.

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) separately filed their requests at the National Assembly’s bills division but said they will hold follow-up discussions to narrow differences over details of the proposed probe.

The PPP proposed forming an 18-member special committee to oversee the probe for 60 days, with nine members from each of the rival parties and a PPP member chairing the committee, reports Yonhap news agency.

Under the PPP’s proposal, a special committee will look into the cause of the ballot shortage and whether it infringed upon voters’ rights, as well as what the party described as violent police suppression during the removal of the ballot boxes from a polling station.

Separately, the party plans to introduce a bill seeking an independent counsel probe into the incident.

The ruling DP submitted its own request later in the afternoon.

“The National Election Commission (NEC) failed to respond in time despite recognising the possibility of ballot shortages in advance, causing significant confusion,” Rep. Cheon Jun-ho of the ruling party told reporters after submitting the request, stressing that such “critical mismanagement” fueled unnecessary suspicions over the fairness of the election.

“We request a parliamentary investigation to thoroughly unveil the truth, examine the structural problems of the NEC and the election commissions at all levels, as well as come up with reform measures to fully guarantee people’s voting rights and to restore public trust in the electoral process,” he added.

The rival parties are expected to negotiate the details of the probe before the plan is put to a plenary vote.

Ballot shortages were reported at more than a dozen polling stations in Seoul during the local elections, temporarily disrupting voting and prompting protests by people alleging election fraud at a polling station in Seoul’s Songpa Ward.

Police dispersed the crowd and transferred the ballot boxes for counting on Friday, two days after the voting took place.

–IANS

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