By Jun Ji-hye
Calls for revising the Constitution to change the current presidential system have repeatedly arisen and disappeared over the past 30 years, ever since the nation’s last constitutional amendment in October 1987.
The so-called 1987 system ended decades of authoritarian dictatorship and introduced direct presidential elections as part of democratic reform measures.
Since then, politicians have frequently raised the need for constitutional revision especially ahead of general or presidential elections _ apparently to form public opinion and receive media attention amid power transitions. But none of these efforts have succeeded.
Previously, the so-called “DJP alliance” formed in 1997 between then opposition presidential candidate Kim Dae-jung and a splinter party leader Kim Jong-pil was based on their promise to introduce a parliamentary government system by revising the Constitution. The alliance contributed considerably to Kim’s victory in the presidential election, but their promise was not kept due to differing opinions among politicians over sharing power.
In January 2007, former President Roh Moo-hyun suggested amending the Constitution as a means to resolve problems cause by differing tenures between president and lawmakers. Under the standing law, the President’s term is five years, while that of lawmakers is four years. The late Roh made the proposal with a year left in his tenure.
Roh’s proposal was brought up in the 18th National Assembly that began in May 2008, and rival lawmakers were engaged in fierce discussion but no result was achieved.
The issue arose again during the Lee Myung-bak government in 2009 when he mentioned the need for the revision during a speech to mark the Aug. 15 National Liberation Day. The discussion was led by Lee’s close aides including former lawmaker Lee Jae-oh until 2011; but the heated discussion died down after President Park Geun-hye, then leading candidate for the 2012 presidential election, expressed her negative stance on the issue.
But in the lead-up to the 2012 poll, Park pledged to push for introducing a four-year, two-term presidency by amending the Constitution. She then reversed herself after being sworn in the following year.
Lawmakers, including Lee Jae-oh advocating for the revision in the 19th National Assembly (May 2012 to May 2016) concentrated efforts toward that end, but the efforts remained uncompleted mainly due to Park’s opposition.
Former Saenuri Party Chairman Kim Moo-sung made remarks in favor of the revision during a visit to China in October 2014, but had to apologize the following day after Park expressed her regret over his comment.
After having described the debate surrounding the constitutional amendment as a “black hole” that was disturbing the government’s economic revival efforts; Park suddenly again vowed to push forward the revision, Monday, during her speech to the National Assembly outlining budget plans for next year.
The opposition parties cast doubts over her intentions, saying that Park should not take the debate as an opportunity to dodge public attention on ongoing allegations surrounding government irregularities.