PPP urges Lee to veto special counsel bill on alleged fabricated indictments

SEOUL, Nov. 10 (Yonhap) -- The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) on Tuesday called on President Lee Jae Myung to veto a recently passed bill on a special counsel investigation into alleged fabricated indictments targeting Lee and others.

The PPP made the appeal as they held a general meeting of its lawmakers outside the presidential office, slamming the bill as a measure aimed at canceling all indictments against Lee.

"The special counsel bill marks the final step in a project to free Lee Jae Myung from prison," PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok said. "It is a jailbreak bill designed to get Lee, who should be behind bars, out of jail."

The legislation calls for appointing an independent counsel to investigate suspicions the prosecution under former President Yoon Suk Yeol fabricated evidence or induced false testimonies to build cases against then opposition leader Lee and others.

"We must resume all trials and make Lee face the judiciary's judgment before his crimes are wiped away," Jang added.

Rep. Jeong Jeom-sig, the party's floor leader, also warned, "The project to free Lee from prison will only lead to an early end of his administration."

Lee's trials have been suspended since he took office in June last year under an article of the Constitution that exempts a sitting president from criminal prosecution except in cases of insurrection or treason.

The president faces charges of involvement in corrupt development schemes, illegal remittances to North Korea and the misuse of a government charge card, stemming from his time as mayor of Seongnam and governor of Gyeonggi Province.

The PPP has been protesting against the bill after it was passed at a plenary session last week, with a rally held Friday outside the National Assembly and a large-scale outdoor rally staged near Gyeongbok Palace in central Seoul on Saturday.

The party plans to hold a series of outdoor rallies in major cities across the country, starting with the southeastern city of Busan on Saturday.

A relay of one-person protests outside Cheong Wa Dae also began Monday and will continue until Lee vetoes the bill, according to the PPP.

The ruling Democratic Party has rejected the PPP's accusation, noting that clauses allowing the special counsel to cancel indictments were removed from the final version of the bill.