“The opposition demands that Acting President Khan approve three more candidates for the full composition of the Constitutional Court’s judicial panel”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
Parliament removed President Yoon Suk-yeol from office on December 14 due to his declaration of martial law in the country, but a decision by the Constitutional Court is needed to complete the impeachment process.
The opposition is demanding that Acting President Khan approve three more candidates for the full judicial panel.
“We have submitted a petition… and will announce it at the plenary session today. We will put it to a vote tomorrow,” opposition lawmaker Park Soon-jung told reporters at the National Assembly, where a protest against Khan was taking place.
Khan’s refusal to officially appoint three judges proves that he has “neither the will nor the qualifications to uphold the constitution,” Democratic Party leader Park Chan-dae told reporters.
If the opposition supports the impeachment motion, the country’s finance minister will become acting president.
Earlier this week, Han Dak-su rejected the opposition’s demand for special bills that would establish two independent investigative bodies to investigate those involved in the declaration of martial law.
The question of the president’s impeachment was raised in parliament after Yoon Seok-yeol announced on December 3 the introduction of a state of emergency “in order to fight against internal supporters of the DPRK.”
The decree, which was valid for six hours, prohibited the work of political parties, protests, strikes, introduced censorship and military field tribunals with the right to issue the death sentence. This caused large-scale protests both on the streets of Seoul and in the parliament. Deputies simply voted to cancel the president’s decision during the storming of the building by the military. After that, he was forced by law to cancel the decree.
On December 7, the president apologized for his actions on television. Key officials, including Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, resigned.
On December 12, Yoon rejected the mutiny charge and said the imposition of martial law was a “deeply vetted political decision.” He also rejected calls to resign and accused the opposition of abusing impeachment.