Parties at odds over election rigging

The ruling and opposition parties faced off July 24 over alleged election rigging during the April 13 parliamentary polls, with both sides contending that some of the other`s successful candidates engaged in illegal campaigning.

At a joint meeting between the Legislation-Judiciary and the Government Administration-Home Affairs Committees, the rival parties also launched a heated debate over the prosecution`s fairness in its investigations into the election fraud cases. However, the two sides failed to make progress in the session due to the ruling camp`s sudden passage of a revision bill to raise the quorum for the formation of a floor negotiation group.

From the outset of the joint meeting, the legislators of the main opposition Grand National Party took the political offensive by distributing leaflets condemning the prosecution`s allegedly biased probes into election irregularities.

The ruling Millennium Democratic Party, on the other hand, countered that the GNP`s move was intended to pacify its disgruntled candidates who failed in the parliamentary polls. Rep. Bae Ki-Sun of the MDP claimed that GNP president Lee Hoi-Chang, due to his lack of political judgment, was trying to "kill" his comrades, thus plunging the National Assembly into further chaotic struggles.