Debate on justice nominee petition

[Anchor]

In two days (on Feb. 3), an important decision will be made at the Constitutional Court.

The court will determine whether it was appropriate to suspend the appointment of Constitutional Court Justice nominee Ma Eun-hyuk.

In anticipation of this, political parties have engaged in a heated debate.

The People Power Party has demanded dismissal, while the Democratic Party has countered that it is an unreasonable claim.

This is Lee Ye-rin reporting.

[Report]

Two days before the Constitutional Court's ruling on the authority dispute, the People Power Party argued that the National Assembly Speaker does not have the authority to file a request and should dismiss it.

They claimed that the recommendation of a Constitutional Court Justice is the authority of the National Assembly, not the Speaker, and that a request for an authority dispute should have been filed through a National Assembly vote.

[Kim Dae-sik/People Power Party Floor Spokesperson: "A request for a dispute should have been made with the consent of the National Assembly members; I believe that a unilateral dispute by the Speaker cannot be established."]

They also cited precedents where the Constitutional Court unanimously dismissed cases due to procedural defects when a request was made without a National Assembly vote.

Additionally, they criticized the Democratic Party for 'rushed proceedings,' stating that they were demanding the submission of the circumstances surrounding the nomination just three days before the ruling (yesterday, Jan. 31).

In response, the Democratic Party rebutted that the claims are not worth considering.

They pointed out that if the Speaker did not have the qualification to file, the Constitutional Court's procedures would not have proceeded.

They urged the People Power Party to stop the irresponsible claims of conspiracy theories and incitement politics.

They also criticized the opinion submitted by President Yoon's side urging the recusal of three Constitutional Court Justices as 'unreasonable nitpicking.'

[Lee Geon-tae/Democratic Party Legal Spokesperson: "This is a new 'legal defiance strategy' that goes beyond legal tricks. The Yoon Suk Yeol side is already following the steps of contesting the ruling based on the assumption that a dismissal decision will be made."]

The Constitutional Court stated that the authority dispute regarding the suspension of nominee Ma Eun-hyuk is already an ongoing case and that they would not comment on the qualifications for filing.

This is KBS News Lee Ye-rin.