Jang Dong-hyeok, leader of the People Power Party, said Friday that an immediate parliamentary investigation and a special counsel were needed over the ballot shortage during the June 3 local elections.
"A parliamentary investigation must be conducted immediately, and a special counsel must be established as soon as possible for a thorough investigation," Jang said at a Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the holiday.
"We cannot know how many more of these incidents occurred across the country, and we cannot trust the election commission's announcements," he said. "At first they said ballots were sent to 14 additional locations due to shortages, but in the end they confessed that ballots ran short at 50 polling stations. The number of locations to which additional ballots were sent reached 67."
Jang stressed that the matter could not be settled simply by the resignation of National Election Commission Chairman Roh Tae-ak. "All members of the National Election Commission, along with the chairs and members of each regional election commission, must be held accountable to the end," he said.
He argued, "If Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party continue to turn a deaf ear to the public's anger and hold out, it will bring about the end of the administration."
Jang also said, "Fundamentally, discussions on revising the election law must begin as soon as possible, even by a day." He urged, "I propose the formation of a 'nationwide election commission reform body' in which not only the ruling and opposition parties but also experts and the public participate to discuss measures to reform the National Election Commission."
Regarding the protesters at the Jamsil vote-counting station, Jang said, "What they seek to protect is just one thing: the liberal democracy of the Republic of Korea. How can their democratic resistance be called a riot?" He added, "We must not turn away from them. I will fight alongside the youth at the risk of my life."
