Choo Kyung-ho, the floor leader of the People Power Party, today (17th) urged for the procedure to recommend at least one candidate each from the ruling and opposition parties for the replacement of the three Constitutional Court judges whose terms are expiring.
At the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly today, Floor Leader Choo stated, “It has been a long-standing tradition of the National Assembly for each the ruling and opposition parties to recommend one judge and then jointly agree on recommending one more judge.” He criticized the Democratic Party for ignoring this tradition and attempting to unilaterally push through with appointing two judges by force.
Choo further commented, “The reckless display of power by the Democratic Party has eventually led to a vacancy crisis in the Constitutional Court. If the court ceases to function, it essentially means that South Korea halts, and the 22nd National Assembly may go down in history for causing a constitutional disruption due to political strife.”
He urged the Democratic Party to take a progressive stance to ensure the Constitutional Court can function properly by following the long-standing tradition of the National Assembly in recommending judges.
Three of the nine Constitutional Court judges, including Chief Justice Lee Jong-seok, are set to retire when their terms expire today, yet the ruling and opposition parties have not been able to narrow down their differences regarding the distribution of the three National Assembly seats for judge recommendations.
In addition, Floor Leader Choo criticized the opposition-driven enforcement of revising the National Assembly rule to exclude the ruling party’s recommendation rights in the Standing Special Prosecutor Candidate Recommendation Committee. He described it as a sneaky tactic to create a “directly controlled and designated special prosecutor force by the Democratic Party.”
He expressed concern that the mandatory political fairness and neutrality stipulated by the Permanent Special Prosecutor Act were again at risk of being trampled by the overwhelming power of the major opposition party. Choo denounced the Democratic Party’s intention to monopolize investigation and prosecution rights as an authoritarian idea that directly violates the separation of powers and the spirit of the Constitution.
He stated that all possible legal measures would be considered to prevent the enactment and implementation of unconstitutional rule amendments.
[Photo source: Yonhap News]
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