Nearly 88 percent of sitting lawmakers with criminal records or facing court trials for suspected wrongdoings have passed the qualification screening for candidate nominations for the April 10 general elections, a civic group claimed Thursday.

The Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) disclosed the findings during a press conference in central Seoul, criticizing the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) for failing to screen out underqualified candidates.

According to the findings, 81 sitting lawmakers affiliated with either the PPP or the DP have criminal records or underwent trials or had their sentences finalized during the current term of the National Assembly.

Of them, 71 lawmakers, or 87.7 percent, passed the parties’ screening for election nominations.

The CCEJ claimed the DP had 49 lawmakers with such issues, except those who were convicted for involvement in the pro-democracy movement, but only eight of them were deemed unqualified in the screenin
g process.

The PPP had 32 lawmakers with such issues, but only two of them were screened out.

Both parties had designated records of violent crimes, bribery, election-related crimes, property crimes, drunk driving and sexual crimes as some of the standards to screen out unqualified lawmakers for the election nominations.

“The two major parties are turning a blind eye, while the public’s resentment and disappoint are growing due to continuing controversies surrounding the nomination process,” the group’s chief, Kim Sung-dal, said, calling for more thorough qualification verification for nominations.

Source: Yonhap News Agency