With “1 person by agreement”, Opposition “2 for our share”
If the gap gets longer, it could cause problems such as impeachment trials.
The ruling and opposition parties are engaged in a war of words over the method of recommending successors to the three justices recommended by the National Assembly, including Chief Justice Lee Jong-seok and Justices Lee Young-jin and Kim Ki-young, whose terms end next month on the 17th. The People Power Party is in favor of the ruling and opposition parties each recommending one person, as has been the case since 2000, and the remaining one should be decided through an agreement between the ruling and opposition parties, but the Democratic Party of Korea is arguing that the Democratic Party should recommend two people based on its number of seats. If the conflict between the ruling and opposition parties is prolonged, the functions of the Constitutional Court, such as impeachment trials, could be paralyzed, raising concerns that there could be a “Constitutional Court vacuum in October.”
People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Sang-beom, who is the floor leader of the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee, said at a floor strategy meeting on the 20th, “If the Democratic Party is intentionally throwing a tantrum in order to create a power vacuum, it is an attempt by the majority party in the National Assembly to paralyze the constitutional order.” He added, “Each party should first nominate one candidate to fulfill the minimum responsibility to ensure that the Constitutional Court’s functions are not paralyzed.”
According to the Constitutional Court Act, at least 7 out of 9 justices must be present to hold a hearing, but if 3 of the National Assembly’s seats are vacant, impeachment trials, etc. will not be held. The ruling party believes that the opposition party’s insistence on recommending 2 justices is an attempt to “provide a vacuum in state affairs by suspending the hearing of Commissioner Lee Jin-sook of the Korea Communications Commission and extending the period of her suspension.”
On the other hand, the Democratic Party’s position is that “regardless of convention, we must recommend Constitutional Court justices based on the results of this general election.” In a phone call, Park Sung-joon, the Democratic Party’s senior deputy floor leader, said, “Since the difference in the number of seats between the ruling and opposition parties is well over 60, the Democratic Party should naturally recommend two,” and “The Democratic Party can start by recommending two and the People Power Party can recommend one.”
According to the Constitution, the Constitutional Court is composed of nine justices with a six-year term, three of whom are recommended and elected by the National Assembly, three of whom are appointed by the President, and the remaining three are nominated by the Chief Justice. In 1988, when the first court was formed, the top three parties in the four-party system recommended one justice each, and in 1994, in the second term, the ruling Democratic Liberal Party (predecessor of the People Power Party) recommended two justices and the Democratic Party recommended one justice. From the third to the fifth terms in 2000, the ruling and opposition parties each recommended one justice and the final one was recommended by agreement. In the sixth court in 2018, three parliamentary negotiating groups, including the Liberty Korea Party, the Democratic Party, and the Bareunmirae Party, each recommended one justice.
Reporter Kwon Gu-yong [email protected]
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2024-09-21 03:07:24