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| ▲ A special parliamentary committee holds a meeting to discuss the confirmation process for three Constitutional Court judge nominees at the National Assembly on Dec. 18, 2024. (Yonhap) |
parliament-Constitutional judges
Main opposition unilaterally holds 1st meeting on parliamentary hearing for 3 Constitutional Court judge nominees
By Yi Wonju
SEOUL, Dec. 18 (Yonhap) -- The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) held the first meeting of a special parliamentary committee Wednesday to discuss the matter of approving three nominees for the Constitutional Court, but the ruling People Power Party (PPP) skipped the meeting.
Filling the three vacancies of the nine-member Constitutional Court, which will preside over President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial, has become a source of a political fight between the parties.
Currently, there are six constitutional judges at the Constitutional Court, and, by the Constitution, consent from at least six justices is required for an impeachment to be upheld.
Still, it remains to be seen whether acting President Han Duck-soo would go ahead with formal appointments of the three nominees.
PPP lawmakers, including Rep. Jeong Jeom-sig who was originally chosen to chair a parliamentary committee in charge of the confirmation hearing for the three nominees, did not attend the session in protest.
Rep. Park Jie-won of the DP was picked as the committee chair instead.
During the session, Park and the DP lawmakers called for the confirmation hearing to be held as soon as possible.
The DP plans to hold the hearing for the three nominees next Monday and Tuesday and put it to a plenary vote on Dec. 27.
The PPP has claimed that acting President Han Duck-soo has no presidential power to appoint constitutional judges, while the DP has argued the appointment of the judges already nominated by the National Assembly is merely a formality.
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