Lawmakers from the People Power Party on the parliamentary special committee investigating the ballot shortage in the June 3 local elections sharply criticized the Democratic Party, saying it was the Democrats who "unilaterally rejected the People Power Party's proposal and are unreasonably insisting on a recount before anything else," as the committee has failed to reach agreement on holding a recount.
Rep. Joo Jin-woo and other People Power Party members of the committee made the remarks at a press conference held ahead of a National Assembly members' workshop in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, on the 27th. "The People Power Party proposed convening the committee to confirm what the special counsel is requesting and to conduct genuine verification for a thorough investigation of the facts," they said.
"The re-verification at Olympic Park must above all be conducted in a way that prevents the destruction of evidence and helps the special counsel thoroughly establish the facts," Joo said. "This is not a matter for going through the motions of re-verification, helping the election commission destroy evidence, and pulling tricks to move ballot boxes stored at Olympic Park to a third location on the grounds that the count is over."
He added that for the special counsel to properly take part in the verification process, it must have sufficient personnel and investigative equipment and must not be pressed by deadlines or time constraints. "How can 2.47 million ballots be forensically examined in a single day under the election commission's direction, as things stand now, and all the suspicions be resolved?" he asked.
"The Olympic Park recount is only one of the means of establishing the facts and is by no means an essential procedure," he said. "The special counsel's rigorous investigation must not be obstructed. For the Democratic Party to pin the suspension of the Olympic Park recount on the People Power Party as if it were our responsibility is unreasonable."
Joo also said the National Election Commission is currently under investigation over alleged deliberate manipulation of turnout figures and irregularities in private contracts. "A recount led mainly by election commission staff amounts to entrusting evidence to criminals," he said, urging the Democratic Party to "immediately stop shielding the election commission and be faithful to the committee's original role."
Earlier, Democratic Party members of the committee also held a press conference and held the People Power Party responsible for opposing the recount, saying the party "gave up on the recount and let it collapse because it failed to properly persuade the election-fraud conspiracy theorists within its own ranks."
