By Choi Ha-young
Three liberal presidential candidates vowed to hold a referendum on constitutional revision in June next year, along with the local elections if they win the presidential poll, Wednesday.
They made the remarks while attending a National Assembly committee meeting on revising the Constitution.
Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea, Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party and Sim Sang-jung of the Justice Party all said they are open to revising the Constitution to limit presidential power.
They shared views on limiting excessive presidential authority, empowering local governments and reforming the election system. However, they disagreed on how to reform the "imperial" presidential system.
"The U.S.-style four-year, two-term presidency is a measure to overcome the evils caused by the single-term presidency. This will enable a long-term governance plan with accountability and stability," Moon said.
Ahn emphasized the reform of the rule to elect lawmakers, in a bid to facilitate the multiparty system. Instead, he proposed a semi-presidential system or presidential system with decentralized authority.
Echoing Ahn's argument to dismiss the hegemony of the two largest parties, Sim focused on advocacy for workers and social minorities, in line with citizens' calls from the street rallies against corrupt leadership and family-run conglomerates.
Two conservative candidates, Rep. Yoo Seong-min of the Bareun Party and Hong Joon-pyo of the former ruling Liberty Korea Party (LKP) didn't attend the meeting citing personal schedules. Instead, Hong submitted his opinion in a written statement.
The liberal candidates' joint moves only a month before the May 9 election are likely to spur talks around constitutional revision after the poll, said Bae Jong-chan, the chief director of political pollster Research and Research.
"After the election, constitutional revision will surface. Citizens are aware of the necessity of the amendment because the aftermath of the presidential scandal that swept the country lingers," Bae said.
"Particularly, the next president cannot ignore the opposition parties' demands for the revision, since the opposition will have the majority of seats in the Assembly," he added. Whoever becomes the next president, no party has a parliamentary majority.
Some experts and politicians such as former five-term lawmaker Kim Chong-in have pushed for a constitutional amendment, citing the president's concentrated power as a cause of the presidential scandals including the influence-peddling scandal involving ex-President Park Geun-hye.
Even though three parties ― the People's Party, LKP and the Bareun Party ― have agreed to revise the supreme law before May 9, the motion has failed to gain momentum, being considered as a political tactic to drive an anti-Moon alliance. Former U.N. head Ban Ki-moon also touted the motion as the glue to bring them together.
Since Jan. 5, the Assembly has held 49 sessions with experts from various walks of life to create a new system to replace the one adopted in 1987, when the nation chose a system of direct election of the top post following the nationwide pro-democracy movement.
For decades, there have been calls for revision but former presidents withdrew the plans after seizing power, to exert their imperial presidential power.
The lack of public consensus is another hurdle against the move. According to an opinion survey issued last month, 45.8 percent of the respondents backed the revision after the election. The poll conducted by Yonhap News Agency and KBS showed that 42.8 percent of them prefer the two-term presidential system such as the United States has rather than a semi-presidential system and parliamentary system.
"The politicians have got the cart before the horse. They should decide on an official party platform first, before setting a schedule for the plebiscite," Park Sang-hoon, chief of the Political Power Plant, said.
"The Constitution is not a subject of experiment. Presidential candidates should discuss it seriously and let people know the complicated moot points," he continued.
Three liberal presidential candidates vowed to hold a referendum on constitutional revision in June next year, along with the local elections if they win the presidential poll, Wednesday.
They made the remarks while attending a National Assembly committee meeting on revising the Constitution.
Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea, Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party and Sim Sang-jung of the Justice Party all said they are open to revising the Constitution to limit presidential power.
They shared views on limiting excessive presidential authority, empowering local governments and reforming the election system. However, they disagreed on how to reform the "imperial" presidential system.
"The U.S.-style four-year, two-term presidency is a measure to overcome the evils caused by the single-term presidency. This will enable a long-term governance plan with accountability and stability," Moon said.
Ahn emphasized the reform of the rule to elect lawmakers, in a bid to facilitate the multiparty system. Instead, he proposed a semi-presidential system or presidential system with decentralized authority.
Echoing Ahn's argument to dismiss the hegemony of the two largest parties, Sim focused on advocacy for workers and social minorities, in line with citizens' calls from the street rallies against corrupt leadership and family-run conglomerates.
Two conservative candidates, Rep. Yoo Seong-min of the Bareun Party and Hong Joon-pyo of the former ruling Liberty Korea Party (LKP) didn't attend the meeting citing personal schedules. Instead, Hong submitted his opinion in a written statement.
The liberal candidates' joint moves only a month before the May 9 election are likely to spur talks around constitutional revision after the poll, said Bae Jong-chan, the chief director of political pollster Research and Research.
"After the election, constitutional revision will surface. Citizens are aware of the necessity of the amendment because the aftermath of the presidential scandal that swept the country lingers," Bae said.
"Particularly, the next president cannot ignore the opposition parties' demands for the revision, since the opposition will have the majority of seats in the Assembly," he added. Whoever becomes the next president, no party has a parliamentary majority.
Some experts and politicians such as former five-term lawmaker Kim Chong-in have pushed for a constitutional amendment, citing the president's concentrated power as a cause of the presidential scandals including the influence-peddling scandal involving ex-President Park Geun-hye.
Even though three parties ― the People's Party, LKP and the Bareun Party ― have agreed to revise the supreme law before May 9, the motion has failed to gain momentum, being considered as a political tactic to drive an anti-Moon alliance. Former U.N. head Ban Ki-moon also touted the motion as the glue to bring them together.
Since Jan. 5, the Assembly has held 49 sessions with experts from various walks of life to create a new system to replace the one adopted in 1987, when the nation chose a system of direct election of the top post following the nationwide pro-democracy movement.
For decades, there have been calls for revision but former presidents withdrew the plans after seizing power, to exert their imperial presidential power.
The lack of public consensus is another hurdle against the move. According to an opinion survey issued last month, 45.8 percent of the respondents backed the revision after the election. The poll conducted by Yonhap News Agency and KBS showed that 42.8 percent of them prefer the two-term presidential system such as the United States has rather than a semi-presidential system and parliamentary system.
"The politicians have got the cart before the horse. They should decide on an official party platform first, before setting a schedule for the plebiscite," Park Sang-hoon, chief of the Political Power Plant, said.
"The Constitution is not a subject of experiment. Presidential candidates should discuss it seriously and let people know the complicated moot points," he continued.
