The National Assembly passed a bill on Thursday to prohibit an acting president from nominating any Constitutional Court justices. 

The bill to revise the Constitutional Court Act passed during Thursday’s plenary session, with 188 of the 294 lawmakers in attendance voting in favor and 106 against.

Lawmakers from the People Power Party either voted against the bill or abstained from voting, with the exception of Rep. Kim Sang-wook, who supported it. 

The bill also would require the president to appoint any justice selected by the National Assembly within seven days, and stipulates that the justice would be appointed automatically if the president delayed the move. 

If the bill becomes law, Constitutional Court justices with no successors lined up will continue their duties until their successors are nominated. 

The Democratic Party pursued the changes after acting President Han Duck-soo nominated Lee Wan-kyu, minister of government legislation, and Ham Sang-hun, a justice of the Seoul High Court, to replace Constitutional Court Justices Moon Hyung-bae and Lee Mi-son, whose terms expire Friday.