Kwon Seong-dong: "Woo Won-sik and Ma Eun-hyeok's Appointment Pressure Is Abuse of Power"

Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, criticized on the 12th that "the claim that Acting President and Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Minister of Strategy and Finance Choi Sang-mok's refusal to appoint Ma Eun-hyuk as a Constitutional Court justice candidate is a violation of the Constitution is absurd."

On the same day, Kwon told reporters at the National Assembly, "Acting President Choi should not comply with Speaker Woo Won-shik's demand to immediately appoint candidate Ma," expressing this view.

Yonhap News

원본보기 아이콘

Speaker Woo held a press conference that day and publicly demanded Acting President Choi to appoint candidate Ma. Woo said, "Appointing candidate Ma is Acting President Choi's constitutional duty."

In response, Floor Leader Kwon retorted, "Claiming that Acting President Choi has an obligation to appoint candidate Ma is an abuse of authority." He added, "The Constitutional Court's decision states only that Acting President Choi's failure to appoint candidate Ma infringes on the constitutional institution's composition rights, but it dismissed demands to force the appointment or to recognize that candidate Ma holds the status of Constitutional Court justice."

He then criticized Speaker Woo and the Democratic Party for not fulfilling their assigned duties. The National Assembly has neither appointed three of the five members of the Korea Communications Commission nor recommended personnel for the Human Rights Foundation following the enactment of the North Korean Human Rights Act. Floor Leader Kwon asked, "Has Speaker Woo ever claimed this is a violation of the law or urged the Democratic Party to act?" He added, "I hope Acting President Choi maintains his constitutional view as it is."

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.