"Democratic Party Threatens Not to Recognize Acting President"
Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, stated on the 3rd that Acting President and Deputy Prime Minister for Economy as well as Minister of Strategy and Finance Choi Sang-mok should "reject the appointment of Ma Eun-hyuk as a Constitutional Court justice candidate."
On the same day, Kwon wrote on his social media service (SNS), "Acting President Choi should not be swayed by the opposition party's intimidation. The political turmoil of the presidential impeachment trial should not be further aggravated by an unreasonable appointment of a Constitutional Court justice," expressing his stance.
Kwon also commented on the hunger strike by his party colleague Park Soo-young opposing Ma's appointment, saying, "The recommendation of Constitutional Court justices by the National Assembly has long been a practice based on bipartisan agreement. However, in Ma's recommendation, the Democratic Party ignored the spirit of bipartisan agreement and acted unilaterally."
He added, "The Constitutional Court ruled that despite procedural flaws, Acting President Choi infringed upon the National Assembly's right to form the Constitutional Court," and said, "This shows tolerance of the opposition party's reckless behavior and again demonstrates a biased attitude."
Yonhap News
Kwon said, "Although the Constitutional Court judged that the National Assembly's constitutional institution formation rights were violated, it cannot force the appointment," and explained, "Therefore, the Constitutional Court also dismissed the request to order the appointment of the candidate or to confirm the candidate's status."
He further claimed, "The Democratic Party threatened that if Acting President Choi does not appoint Ma, they will not recognize him as acting president," and added, "They are even fiddling with the 30th impeachment motion, citing impeachment requirements."
He continued, "So far, there are a total of 18 laws that have been ruled unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court but have not yet been amended," and said, "Moreover, there are many cases where the National Assembly has not enacted supplementary legislation despite constitutional incompatibility rulings. Has the Democratic Party ever raised a voice of self-reflection against such legislative arrogance?"
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