Latest news with #constitutionalCrisis
Al Jazeera
27-05-2025
- General
- Al Jazeera
South Korea bars two former acting presidents from overseas travel
South Korean authorities have slapped travel bans on two former acting presidents as part of an investigation into alleged insurrection linked to ex-leader Yoon Suk-yeol's martial law bid last year, according to local reports. Police barred former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and ex-Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok from travelling abroad in mid-May as they underwent investigation as suspects in the insurrection case, the Yonhap news agency reported on Tuesday. Yoon, who served as president for three years, declared emergency martial law in December 2024, claiming that antistate and North Korean forces had infiltrated the government, deploying troops onto the streets of the capital. The declaration was revoked hours later by parliament, thrusting South Korea into an unprecedented constitutional crisis that involved both Han and Choi serving as acting presidents. The former acting presidents were questioned on Monday by a special police unit over the role they had played in Yoon's short-lived martial law. Since his impeachment, there have been questions over whether they had resisted the move as they claimed. Yoon was formally stripped of office last month, with a judge at South Korea's Constitutional Court ruling that he had overstepped his authority by deploying troops in the capital. Senior military and police officials testified they were ordered to detain rival politicians. The former president is currently on trial on insurrection charges, potentially facing life in prison or the country's maximum penalty: the death sentence. If found guilty, he would become the third South Korean president to be convicted of insurrection after two military leaders in connection with a 1979 coup. South Koreans go to the polls next week to elect Yoon's successor, capping months of political turmoil since the martial law declaration. Han attempted to win the ruling conservative People Power Party's presidential nomination, but was forced to drop out this month after internecine disputes, which led to rival Kim Moon-soo being chosen.
Irish Times
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Netanyahu pushes Israel towards constitutional crisis by naming new security chief
Israel is facing a constitutional crisis after prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu appointed a new internal security chief in defiance of the attorney general's instructions. Attorney general Gali Baharav-Miara has said investigations into ties between Mr Netanyahu's office and Qatar put the prime minister in a conflict of interest. Ms Baharav-Miara said the process of appointing Maj Gen David Zini to lead the Israel Security Agency (ISA) Shin Bet was tainted. She said she had informed Mr Netanyahu earlier this week that he must refrain, for now, from any action concerning the appointment of a new ISA director after the high court of justice ruled that his decision to oust Ronen Bar from the post had been made unlawfully. Mr Bar, under intense pressure from coalition politicians, announced last month that he would leave his position on June 15th. READ MORE The Movement for Quality Government NGO said it would petition the high court against the appointment. Critics of the government accused Mr Netanyahu of removing Mr Bar because he was an independent gatekeeper. Cabinet ministers praised Mr Netanyahu's decision. Far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote that Maj Gen Zini is a 'moral and creative officer who goes on the offensive and takes initiative, and is the right man at the right time to rehabilitate the ISA'. Minister Shlomo Karhi also welcomed the decision. 'Just like that: the rule of law, not the rule of the bureaucrats. The prime minister is the one who was elected by the people, not the attorney general. It's his prerogative and even his duty to appoint as ISA director someone he thinks is fit to maintain Israel's security at this fateful hour.' Opposition leader Yair Lapid called on Maj Gen Zini to announce that he could not accept the appointment until the high court rules on the matter. National Unity party leader Benny Gantz accused Mr Netanyahu of 'undermining the rule of law once again and leading the country into a constitutional collision at the expense of Israel's security'. After the appointment was announced, demonstrators lit a bonfire in Tel Aviv in protest at what they called a violation of the high court's ruling not to make an appointment at this juncture. Hitting back at the criticism, the prime minister's office issued a statement on Friday stressing that the new ISA chief will not interfere in ongoing investigations into the links between Mr Netanyahu's office and Qatar, in what has been dubbed the Qatargate affair. The investigations by police and the ISA were prompted by allegations of financial ties between Qatar and aides of Mr Netanyahu. The prime minister's office added that any delay in the appointment would be damaging to national security.
