A parliamentary vote on the nomination of South Korea's first female Constitutional Court head is likely to be crippled for the fourth time in four months, as conservative opposition lawmakers again seized the National Assembly Wednesday to foil the balloting.
Dozens of lawmakers from the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) stayed all night in the Assembly's main hall to prevent ruling Uri Party lawmakers, who were outnumbered, from entering the hall and passing the nomination bill.
"We'll sternly obstruct the moves to destroy the constitution by employing physical measures and beyond them," Na Kyung-won, a spokeswoman for the GNP, told reporters.
The GNP has demanded President Roh Moo-hyun retract his promotion in mid-August of Chon Hyo-suk, then the only female justice on the nine-member Constitutional Court, as its head, citing what it calls procedural flaws.
After the nomination, Chon quickly resigned as a court judge to get a full six-year term as the court's head, bringing a backlash from opposition parties. If she retained the post, her tenure as the court's head would have lasted three years, as she has already served for three years as a judge.
"This time, we will clearly show our resolve to protect the constitution," said Kang Jae-sup, the GNP chairman.
Roh's ruling Uri Party tried to put the nomination bill to a parliamentary vote three times so far, but each time the balloting didn't take place because the GNP seized the parliamentary hall and took other measures.
President Roh expressed his regrets over the nomination through his chief secretary, but has not withdrawn it.
Uri Party members, meanwhile, vowed to push ahead with the passage of the nomination bill on Wednesday and try to break the GNP blockade and enter the parliamentary room, prompting worries of a physical clash between them.
They argue the Constitutional Court's top post has been vacant for nearly three months since its former head ended his term.
"The responsibility of the National Assembly is to pass bills under procedures by the National Assembly Law. We will pass the bill as scheduled," said Kim Geun-tae, the chairman of the Uri Party.
The Uri Party holds 139 seats in the 297-member, single-chamber parliament, 10 seats short of an outright majority to pass the bill. The small opposition Democratic Labor Party, which holds nine seats, said it would vote for the bill.
Seoul, Nov. 15 (Yonhap News)
Parliamentary vote on nomination of Constitutional Court chief likely to be delayed |
