A group of ruling and opposition party lawmakers filed a resolution with the National Assembly Monday, calling for the creation of a task force to begin discussions on a constitutional revision.
The move comes amid a renewed debate over whether the Constitution should be amended to change the president’s single, five-year term to a four-year term with the possibility of re-election, among other issues.
South Korea introduced the single-term presidency in 1987 after decades of autocratic rule by military-backed presidents. The system was primarily aimed at keeping the president from attempting to hold on to power through illicit means.
President Park Geun-hye has expressed strong opposition to the idea of a constitutional debate, saying it would become a “black hole” for other pending issues, such as the task of reviving the slumping economy.
Monday’s resolution, signed by 10 lawmakers of the ruling Saenuri Party and 26 legislators of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, calls for a parliamentary task force with 20 members to discuss a constitutional revision over a year.
“In order to better ensure the basic rights of human beings in accordance with the changing situation of our times, and in order to create a political structure of coexistence and harmony, the National Assembly must discuss a 10th revision to the Constitution without fail, and for this, a special committee for constitutional revision must first be formed under a bipartisan agreement,” the group said in a news release.
“The current Constitution, in its 27 years of implementation, has revealed many problems, especially in the excessive concentration of power in the president and the endless socio-political conflict that has caused, which in turn has brought losses to the country, while also being pointed out as the source of poor communication disrupting national unity.”
All 36 lawmakers are members of a larger parliamentary group comprised of 154 lawmakers with the aim of pushing for a constitutional revision. (Yonhap)
