Presidential Office to File Constitutional Petition

The presidential office is planning to file a petition within the week to the Constitutional Court to reverse the ruling by the national election watchdog that President Roh violated the Election Law, said Mun Jae-in, Roh’s chief of staff.

Yesterday, the National Election Commission decided that a series of political remarks made by the president was a violation of the political neutrality obligations required of all public officials.

“The petition is likely to be a constitutional complaint rather than a competence dispute,” said Mun at a press conference held yesterday. Many members of the judicial community, however, opine that the constitutional complaint system is designed to help individuals whose basic rights are invaded by governmental authority, and the president, who represents government power, is not entitled to file one.

jyw11@donga.com