On the 27th, Kwon Young-se, the emergency response chairperson of the People Power Party, expressed regret regarding the Constitutional Court's judgment that not appointing Constitutional Court Justice nominee Ma Eun-hyuk was an 'illegal act' infringing on the authority of the National Assembly, as acting President Choi Sang-mok, also the Minister of Strategy and Finance, had not appointed him.
Chairperson Kwon noted during a meeting with reporters at the Cheonggye Foundation in Seocho District, Seoul, "We naturally believed that (the right to elect justices) is not the authority of the Speaker of the National Assembly but rather the authority of the National Assembly, so it should have been dismissed, and I think it is very regrettable that the Constitutional Court made such a judgment."
He added, "The long-standing practice of the National Assembly was to recommend Constitutional Court justices by agreement from both ruling and opposition parties, but in the case of nominee Ma, the Democratic Party recommended him unilaterally," and stated, "He should not be appointed."
Previously, the National Assembly elected Jeong Gye-seon, Ma Eun-hyuk, and Jo Han-chang as candidates for Constitutional Court justices; however, acting President Choi withheld the appointment of nominee Ma citing that an agreement between the ruling and opposition parties had not been confirmed.
In response, Woo Won-sik, the Speaker of the National Assembly, claimed that acting President Choi had violated the National Assembly's authority by appointing only 2 of the 3 candidates for justices elected by the National Assembly and filed a dispute over rights on the 3rd of last month.
In turn, the People Power Party has critiqued that Speaker Woo did not meet the requirements by filing a dispute over rights without a resolution.