Barack Obama, former US president, on Saturday urged the
Republicans to keep the US Supreme Court justice post vacant until the US
elections. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on
Friday night after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

In a heartfelt message for Justice Ginsburg, Obama addressed
her as “a warrior for gender equality”, “a relentless
litigator” and “an incisive jurist”.

Also Read | Mitch McConnell vows Trump’s nominee replacing Ginsburg will get Senate vote

In reply to US President Donald Trump and Senate leader Mitch McConnell’s push for the vacant post to be filled before the November elections, Obama said ‘the fundamental workings of our democracy all depend on that basic principle’.

“…A basic principle of the law — and of everyday
fairness — is that we apply rules with consistency, and not based on what’s
convenient or advantageous in the moment. The rule of law, the legitimacy of
our courts, the fundamental workings of our democracy all depend on that basic
principle. As votes are already being cast in this election, Republican Senators
are now called to apply that standard,” Obama said.

Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, also said
“The voters should pick a President, and that President should select a
successor to Justice Ginsburg.”

Also Read | With Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, what comes next for the US Supreme Court

However, if McConnell pushes for Trump’s pick, it may harm the incumbent, politically.

Ginsburg, who was appointed during the presidency of Bill
Clinton, was 87 at the time of her death.

Also Read | Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Progressive icon of US Supreme Court, dies at 87

According to media reports, Trump will now nominate a
replacement for Ginsburg and the Republican-controlled Senate has the power to
confirm that nominee to the US Supreme Court.

In a statement issued an hour after her death, Kentucky
senator McConnell wrote, “In the last midterm election before Justice
Scalia’s death in 2016, Americans elected a Republican Senate majority because
we pledged to check and balance the last days of a lame-duck president’s second
term. We kept our promise. Since the 1880s, no Senate has confirmed an
opposite-party president’s Supreme Court nominee in a presidential election
year.”