'Power to screen nominees is same as a veto'
![People Power Party floor spokesperson Choi Su-jin (from left), legal advisory committee Chairman Rep. Kim Tae-gyu and deputy committee chairman Choi Ji-woo head to the public affairs office of the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on Monday, carrying a petition for a competence dispute ruling over the presidential refusal to submit a nomination consent motion for Supreme Court justice candidate Son Bong-gi and the demand for a new recommendation. The PPP decided to file the petition after Cheong Wa Dae on Sunday rejected Chief Justice Jo Hee-dae's recommendation of a Supreme Court justice candidate and demanded a new one. [Yonhap]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/09/21/rcv.YNA.20260921.PYH2026092109900001300_P1.jpg)
The People Power Party said Monday it had filed a competence dispute petition with the Constitutional Court, arguing that President Lee Jae-myung's demand for a new Supreme Court justice nominee violated the National Assembly's constitutional authority.
Rep. Kim Tae-gyu, chairman of the PPP's legal advisory committee, and other party members visited the Constitutional Court that morning to submit the petition. "If the president is recognized as having the authority to arbitrarily screen Supreme Court justice candidates, it is in effect no different from granting the president veto power over those candidates," Kim said.
The PPP contends that the president's demand for a new nominee infringed on individual lawmakers' right to deliberate and vote on Supreme Court justice consent motions, as well as the Assembly's broader constitutional authority to consent to such appointments.
The party argued that allowing the president to selectively submit consent motions for only some of the candidates recommended by the chief justice would not only render the chief justice's recommendation authority meaningless in effect but also block the Assembly from exercising its confirmation power.
Kim and his colleagues urged the Constitutional Court to "promptly confirm the infringement of the National Assembly's constitutional authority and declare null and void the president's failure to submit the consent motion and his demand for a new recommendation."
mp1256@heraldcorp.com
