DP rejects talks on constitutional revision
By Na Jeong-ju
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) has turned down President Lee Myung-bak’s proposal that rival parties hold talks as soon as possible to revise the Constitution.
“It’s a waste of time to discuss whether or not to change the Constitution, an issue in which people are not interested,” DP floor-leader Rep. Park Jie-won told reporters Saturday.
“Instead, the ruling camp should tackle more urgent problems, such as the tensions with North Korea, the spread of foot-and-mouth disease and the dispute over the location of a science-business belt.”
The rejection came days after the conservative leader called for inter-party talks to rewrite the Constitution to reflect social changes since the last update in 1987.
“It is time to redraw electoral and administrative districts to ease regional division,” Lee said during a 90-minute panel discussion, broadcast live last Tuesday. “My hope is that the Constitution, if updated, will also touch on such issues as gender equality, climate change and inter-Korean relations.”
The president also proposed a meeting with the leaders of ruling and opposition parties at Cheong Wa Dae this month to discuss the constitutional revision as well as other pending issues.
“We are always ready for talks with ruling camp leaders to break the political stalemate. However, we won’t talk about the revision,” Rep. Park said.
Following Lee’s proposal, some DP lawmakers criticized President Lee for “trying to avoid political difficulties by taking issue with the Constitution.”
“A revision is impossible as long as there are evil political motives,” DP spokeswoman Cha Young said.
National Assembly Speaker Park Hee-tae, formally chairman of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP), will issue a statement Monday to call on rival parties to resume dialogue.
“Park may express deep regret over the physical brawl between lawmakers at the main chamber of the National Assembly in December over the government’s budget for 2011 and call for dialogue between parties,” an Assembly spokesman said.
Many analysts say a revision at this point is virtually impossible due to the stalemated relations between the ruling and opposition parties.
What makes it more unrealistic is a sharp division between the two largest factions of the ruling party over the issue. Former GNP Chairwoman Rep. Park Geun-hye, the leading candidate for the next presidency, has opposed the revision.
A re-writing of the country’s supreme charter requires approval from more than two-thirds of all lawmakers. The GNP has 171 seats in the 299-member National Assembly.