Impeachment

"The president will not be involved in any state affairs including diplomacy before his exit," Han Dong-hoon

A South Korean legislative push to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived imposition of martial law fell through on Saturday after most lawmakers from his conservative governing party boycotted the vote. The defeat of the motion is expected to intensify public protests calling for Yoon's ouster and deepen political chaos in South Korea, with a survey suggesting a majority of South Koreans support the president's impeachment. Yoon's martial law declaration drew criticism from his own ruling conservative party, but it is also determined to oppose Yoon's impeachment apparently because it fears losing the presidency to liberals. Impeaching Yoon required support from two-thirds of the National Assembly, or 200 of its 300 members. The opposition parties who brought the impeachment motion had 192 seats, but only three lawmakers from PPP participated in the vote. The motion was scrapped without ballot counting because the number of votes didn't reach 200. National Assembly ..

South Korean lawmakers on Saturday began meeting to vote on whether to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived attempt to impose martial law, as protests grew nationwide calling for his removal. They gathered in the National Assembly hours after Yoon issued a public apology over the move, saying he won't shirk legal or political responsibility for the declaration and promising not to make another attempt to impose martial law. In a brief televised address, Yoon said he would leave it to his party to chart a course through the country's political turmoil, including matters related to my term in office." The declaration of this martial law was made out of my desperation. But in the course of its implementation, it caused anxiety and inconveniences to the public. I feel very sorry over that and truly apologize to the people who must have been shocked a lot, Yoon said. Since taking office in 2022, Yoon, a conservative, has struggled to push his agenda through an ...

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is facing possible impeachment for sending heavily armed soldiers into Seoul's streets with a baffling declaration of martial law that reminded many of the country's past military-backed dictatorships. Lawmakers began impeachment proceedings against Yoon just hours after parliament unanimously voted to cancel martial law, forcing the president to lift his order about six hours after it began. Opposition parties are pushing for a vote on Saturday on the impeachment motion, which needs support from two-thirds of the National Assembly to advance to the Constitutional Court, which would decide whether to remove Yoon from office. In a surprising turnaround, the head of Yoon's governing party expressed support for suspending the president's powers, making Yoon's impeachment more likely. Here's what to know about the situation: Will Yoon be impeached? Opposition parties are pushing for a parliamentary vote on Yoon's impeachment on Saturday, calling hi

South Korea's ruling party chief showed support Friday for suspending the constitutional powers of President Yoon Suk Yeol for imposing martial law, in a bombshell reversal that makes Yoon's impeachment more likely. People Power Party leader Han Dong-hun said he had received intelligence that Yoon had ordered the country's defense counterintelligence commander to arrest and detain unspecified key politicians based on accusations of anti-state activities during martial law. Han on Thursday had said he would work to defeat the impeachment motion even though he criticized Yoon's martial law declaration as unconstitutional. Han said there was a need to prevent damage to citizens and supporters caused by unprepared chaos. Han said Friday that Yoon poses a significant risk of extreme actions, like reattempting to impose martial law, which could potentially put the Republic of Korea and its citizens in great danger. Impeaching Yoon would require support from two-thirds of the National ...

South Korea's president accepted the resignation of his defense minister Thursday as opposition parties moved to impeach both men over the stunning yet short-lived imposition of martial law that brought armed troops into Seoul streets. The main opposition Democratic Party and other small opposition parties submitted a joint motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday over his martial law declaration the previous night. Martial law lasted about six hours, as the National Assembly quickly voted to overrule the president, forcing his Cabinet to lift it before daybreak Wednesday. On Thursday, Yoon replaced Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun with Choi Byung Hyuk, a retired four-star general who is South Korea's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Yoon's office said. It didn't provide any further comments by Yoon. He hasn't made any public appearances since he announced in a televised address that his government was lifting the martial law declaration. The opposition parties earlier ...

South Korea's opposition parties Wednesday submitted a motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over the shocking and short-lived martial law that drew heavily armed troops to encircle parliament before lawmakers climbed walls to reenter the building and unanimously voted to lift his order. Impeaching Yoon would require the support of two-thirds of parliament, and at least six justices of the nine-member Constitutional Court would have to endorse it to remove him from office. The motion, submitted jointly by the main liberal opposition Democratic Party and five smaller opposition parties, could be put to a vote as early as Friday. Yoon's senior policy advisers and Defense Minster Kim Yong Hyun offered to resign as the nation struggles to make sense of what appeared to be a poorly-thought-out stunt. The Democratic Party on Wednesday submitted a separate motion to impeach Kim, who it alleged recommended the martial law declaration to Yoon. In his speech announcing the abrupt order .

House Republicans on Thursday invited President Joe Biden to testify before Congress as part of their impeachment inquiry into him and his family's business affairs. Rep James Comer, chair of the House Oversight Committee, sent a letter to the Democratic president, inviting him to sit for a public hearing to "explain, under oath", what involvement he had in the Biden family businesses. "In light of the yawning gap between your public statements and the evidence assembled by the Committee, as well as the White House's obstruction, it is in the best interest of the American people for you to answer questions from Members of Congress directly, and I hereby invite you to do so," the Kentucky Republican wrote. While it is highly unlikely that Biden would agree to appear before lawmakers in such a setting, Comer pointed to previous examples of presidents' testifying before Congress. "As you are aware, presidents before you have provided testimony to congressional committees, including ..

The House impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden has hit a crossroads, lacking the political appetite from within Republican ranks to go forward with an actual impeachment, but facing political pressure to deliver after months of work. The Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, James Comer, has signalled an interest in another direction. He is stopping short of drawing up articles of impeachment against the president, but eying criminal referrals of Biden family wrongdoing to the Justice Department for possible prosecution. With the panel's star witness, Hunter Biden, not expected to appear for Wednesday's public hearing after having testified privately last month, Comer telegraphed what was coming next. "If he does not show up, then it's not going to end well for the Bidens, Comer said over the weekend on Fox News. He said, There's going to be multiple criminal referrals." It's the start of a potential wind-down for the lengthy GOP-led probe that was launched

The Maldives' Parliament on Monday approved only one of the four members of pro-China President Mohamed Muizzu's cabinet against whom the main opposition MDP has issued a three-line red whip. While Parliament voted to deny approval to Housing Minister Ali Haidar Ahmed, Islamic Minister Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed and Attorney General Ahmed Usham, Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed narrowly survived the same fate, according to local media reports. President Muizzu, 45, had made a formal request for the approval of his cabinet on November 20, two days after the new administration took office. The Parliament was scheduled to vote on the Cabinet on December 18, but the original report by the Government Oversight Committee was rejected. The Parliament held an extraordinary sitting on Sunday to take the vote on the committee's new report, which was passed on December 30, news website sun.com.mv reported. But just ahead of the voting on Sunday, the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party ..

On Capitol Hill, House Republicans were all-in Wednesday on House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's announcement of an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. Down Pennsylvania Avenue, the president was holding forth at the White House on the importance of bipartisanship in fighting cancer and ignoring shouted questions about impeachment. It was a clear sign of Biden's broader reelection pitch: the idea that if he simply does his job and governs, Americans will see the results and reward him with four more years. Never mind all that pesky impeachment talk across town. Just an hour earlier, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had dismissed the inquiry as a political stunt and deflected questions about the details to the White House Counsel's Office. House Republicans? We think they should work with us on legitimate issues things that actually matter to the American people," she said. The we're-all-better-than-this attitude is central to the White House strategy for counter

Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced on Tuesday he is directing the US House to open an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden over his family's business dealings, launching historic proceedings ahead of the 2024 election. McCarthy said that House investigations so far "paint a picture of a culture of corruption around the Biden family as Republicans probe the business dealings of the president's son, Hunter Biden, from before the Democratic president took office. These are allegations of abuse of power, obstruction and corruption, and they warrant further investigation by the House of Representatives, McCarthy, R-Calif., said at the Capitol, announcing that he was directing the House led by the Oversight Committee "to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. The White House shot back, calling the action in the midst of the presidential campaign extreme politics at its worst. House Republicans have been investigating the president for nine months, and they've .

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Speaker Kevin McCarthy suggested Sunday that an impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden was becoming more likely, calling it a natural step forward as Congress soon ends its summer break and House Republicans seek to expand their investigative powers. McCarthy, R-Calif., has so far avoided committing to an impeachment vote or offering a timeline for possible action. Some House Republicans are eager to go after Biden over claims of financial misconduct involving his son Hunter, but the Democratic president has not been shown to have done anything wrong. Meanwhile, McCarthy said passing a short-term spending bill to keep the government running past the end of September would ensure that investigations of Hunter Biden could continue, a pitch directed at conservatives worried a bipartisan deal with Senate Democrats would not cut enough spending. The stopgap measure would buy time to work out a longer-term budget deal before mandatory spending cuts that neither party prefers are impose

Eager to impeach President Joe Biden, hard-right House Republicans forced a vote Thursday that would send the matter to congressional committees in a clear demonstration of the challenge that Speaker Kevin McCarthy faces in controlling the majority party. The ability of single lawmaker, Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., to push forward the impeachment resolution caught Republicans off guard by the unscripted move this week. Many viewed it as a political distraction from other priorities. The measure charges Biden with high crimes and misdemeanors over his handling of the U.S. border with Mexico. Boebert, backed by her allies, showed how a lone lawmaker in the 435-member House could use the chamber's rules to force a snap vote on such a grave constitutional matter. The vote would send impeachment to committees for possible consideration, like any other bill. The House is taking historic action, Boebert said during the debate. The dayslong episode underscores the hold tthat he House ...

A Peruvian judge on Thursday ordered ousted President Pedro Castillo to remain in custody for 18 months, approving a request from authorities for time to build their rebellion case against him. The judge's decision came a day after the government declared a state of emergency as it struggles to calm violent protests. The protests erupted after Castillo was voted out of power by lawmakers last week, following his attempt to dissolve Congress ahead of an impeachment vote. Judge Cesar San Martin Castro ruled days after Congress stripped Castillo of the privilege that keeps Peru's presidents from facing criminal charges. Castillo and his legal team refused to participate in Thursday's virtual hearing, arguing it lacked minimum guarantees. He was represented by a public defender.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is facing a possible impeachment threat over claims that he covered up the theft of millions of dollars in cash allegedly hidden in furniture at his game farm. Ramaphosa, 70, is being probed in an ongoing scandal linked to the theft from his private game farm in 2020. An independent panel said it had found sufficient evidence that the President may have violated a section of the Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities Act and may have committed serious misconduct by exposing himself to a situation involving a conflict between his official responsibilities and his private business. The report of the panel, which was headed by retired Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo, was handed to the Speaker of the National Assembly on Wednesday, clearing the way for possible impeachment action against Ramaphosa. Under South Africa's law, large amounts of foreign currency may not be kept by individuals without the requisite declarations or ...

South African President Ramaphosa said he will not get intimidated or bullied into submission', even as the opposition party Economic Freedom Fighters announced that it would seek his impeachment

An impeachment motion against Nepal's Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana was tabled in parliament for further discussion, a month after 98 lawmakers registered it in House of Representatives

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