South Korea’s newly elected speaker of the national parliament vowed Tuesday to push ruling and opposition parties to reach an agreement on a bill to amend the Constitution by the end of this year.
Moon Hee-sang, who was elected last Friday in a vote, called the amendment “the people’s order” as the state legislature failed to advance a government-proposed bill on constitutional revision earlier this year in the midst of a prolonged partisan standoff.
“As speaker of the National Assembly, I will try in the best of my abilities to help rival parties put forward a bill on the constitutional amendment by the end of this year,” said the new head of parliament in a speech celebrating the 70th anniversary of Korea’s Constitution Day.
He expressed regret that Korea has had to mark the occasion without any development or progress on the front of a new Constitution.
“Nevertheless, about 80 percent of the Korean people are calling for the amendment again,” said Moon who is set to lead the national parliament over the next two years until the next round of local elections come around.
In March, President Moon Jae-in submitted a relevant bill that calls for revising the longstanding single five-year presidency to a maximum of two successful, four-year terms.
South Korea’s Constitution was last amended 31 years ago after decades of military authoritarian rulership. The current single, five-year presidency was then adopted, together with a direct presidential election system.
But the status quo has also been the target of much blame for having centralized the power too much within the parameters of the executive office.
Earlier in his presidency, Moon wished to allow the public to vote on the issue of constitutional amendment along with the local elections held on June 13. But the parliament failed in April to revise the law on national referendums—rendering the option of holding a concurrent vote on it downright impossible.
Opposition parties have been calling for the constitution revision to end the current presidential system after they were stung by a crushing defeat in the June 13 local elections.
“The 1987 Constitution was made out of the necessity that the direct presidential election system was the only shortcut to democracy in the face of dictatorship,” Speaker Moon said. “It is the time to take off old clothes and wear new ones.”
By MSEAP Cyber Secretariat (mseap@assembly.go.kr) |
