ROH CAN'T BUY A VOTE: FAILS THREE TIMES TO APPOINT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 003309 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/18/2016 TAGS: PGOV KS SUBJECT: ROH CAN'T BUY A VOTE: FAILS THREE TIMES TO APPOINT JEON AS PRESIDENT OF CONSTITUTIONAL COURT Classified By: POL Joseph Y. Yun. Reasons 1.4 (b/d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The Blue House failed three times to confirm its choice for President of the Constitutional Court, Jeon Hyo-sook, at the National Assembly. The Blue House asked Jeon to resign from her position as a court justice so she could subsequently start a new six-year term as the first woman at the helm of the top court. The president must be a sitting judge, so this procedural mistake made opposition inevitable from not just the fervent anti-Roh Grand National Party (GNP) but from all parties. With fifteen months until the December 19, 2007 presidential elections, President Roh Moo-hyun's little remaining power continues to evaporate. However, despite the repeated failure to obtain approval from the National Assembly, Jeon will likely become the next President of the Constitutional Court in October since Jeon's nomination does not need to be confirmed by an Assembly vote. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) The Blue House asked then Constitutional Court Justice Jeon to resign from her post so she could subsequently be appointed as president of the court. She was three years into her six-year term as justice and the Blue House goal was for Jeon to start a new six-year term as president of the court. Three opposition parties strongly opposed the nomination since she was the only court justice who upheld the move of the capital as constitutional in 2004. She also passed the bar and went through lawyer training with President Roh in 1975. The procedural mistake and complaints of "code personnel" or cronyism made Jeon's appointment impossible to pass through the Assembly. FAILED VOTES -------------- ¶3. (U) On September 8, 14 and 19 the nomination was blocked in the Assembly. On September 8 and 14, the ruling party decided there were insufficient votes. On September 19, the opposition GNP occupied the National Assembly speaker's stage and physically blocked the passage of the nomination. ¶4. (C) At the request of the opposition parties, on September 13 Blue House Chief of Staff Lee Byung-wan issued a statement saying, "We regret that we've caused controversy and concern among the public by not fully taking care of some procedural details." However, as the attempts on September 14 and 19 showed, the apology did not lead to the necessary support. Pundits unanimously agree that there is no chance Jeon will make it through the Assembly. ¶5. (C) Since the confirmation of the court president needs only to be reported to the plenary and does not require a vote, and since President Roh can appoint Jeon as president of the court 30 days after submitting her name to the Assembly, pundits speculate that the Blue House will wait out the 30 days and Jeon will become the first woman President of the Constitutional Court in early October. COMMENT -------------- ¶6. (C) According to experts, the GNP has nothing to lose blocking Jeon's appointment and their ability to stalemate the Blue House's attempt to appoint Jeon through a vote is yet another testament to Roh's lack of influence over appointments. According to polls, people against Jeon's nomination outnumber those for her by a 2 to 1 margin. Despite this fact and the continued failure to pass through the Assembly, there is no choice for Roh but to appoint Jeon to the court. If he were to abandon this appointment, his lame duck status would become fatally final. The only remaining power Roh has is appointment power, still strongly vested in the Executive Branch. Roh is expected to appoint several new ministers before his term is over, notably FM and DefMin. VERSHBOW