Efforts to impeach South Korea’s President, Park Geun-Hye, is reaching its peak as members of her party are now backing the impeachment move.
Reuters reports that the embattled President currently has a 50-50 chance but her fate would be determined by events leading to Dec 9 date slated for the impeachment hearing.
Some heads of the country’s biggest business groups are also geared up to give testimony to a parliamentary committee.
Three opposition parties introduced a bill on Saturday to impeach Park, who is accused of abuse of power.
If the move is successful, Park would be the first democratically elected South Korean leader to leave office early.
“The chances of the impeachment bill passing on Dec. 9 are 50-50,” Woo Sang-ho, parliamentary leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, told a party meeting on Monday.
The vote is set for Friday. If successful, it would require the approval of South Korea’s Constitutional Court, a process that experts said would take at least two months.
For the impeachment to sail through, opposition party needs at least 28 members from Parks party to secure the required two-thirds majority.
Already, reports indicate that 29 members of Park’s Saenuri Party (members of the breakaway faction) are ready to vote in favor of the Bill.
Park’s presidential Blue House aides addressed a parliamentary hearing on Monday over the allegation that Park and her friend, Choi Soon-sil, as well as a senior aide to Park, put pressure on conglomerates to pay money to foundations that were set up to promote Park’s policy initiatives.
The heads of nine conglomerates, or chaebol, including Samsung Group’s de facto leader Jay Y. Lee and Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo, are scheduled to appear at the inquiry on Tuesday.
They would be answering the question about how they came under pressure from Park and if they were promised favors in return.
However, Park has denied wrongdoing but has apologized for exercising poor judgment.
She offered last week to step down and asked parliament to decide how and when she should leave office.
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