hankyoreh

President Roh Moo-hyun's sudden proposal on Tuesday for a nationwide debate on a constitutional revision to change South Korea's presidential system from the current five-year single term to the U.S. model of two four-year terms is creating a major stir among local politicians.

In a special statement, the president asserted that the mismatch between the five-year presidential term and the National Assembly's four-year term has thus far resulted in unnecessary political conflict and confrontations. Roh then stressed that the year 2007 will offer the only opportunity in 20 years to match the presidential and parliamentary tenures.

Following the statement's issuance, Roh's chief of staff Lee Byung-wan told reporters that the president is scheduled to propose a motion for constitutional change in February or March, aiming to complete a relevant national referendum by the end of the first half.

"We aim to complete the constitutional revision process before April or May. The referendum is unlikely to affect December's presidential election," Lee said, dismissing speculation that Roh's proposal for change in the presidential tenure was politically motivated.

In South Korea, a constitutional amendment enacted in 1987 to prevent extended rules by authoritarian military governments bars the president from seeking a second term in office.

The introduction of two four-year terms for the presidency was one of President Roh's campaign pledges ahead of the 2002 presidential election.

In recent opinion polls, slightly over half of South Korean voters supported the constitutional amendment in favor of two four-year presidential terms. Proponents of the change say that the current system is undermining the authority of the executive branch because one-term presidents have tended quickly to become lame ducks. They also argue that presidents with a chance to serve two terms could more freely pursue long-term policies and maintain policy consistency.

The Korean Constitutional Law Association even released a draft bill last November for amending the Constitution that allows a possible reappointment of the president after four years of tenure.

"The five-year single-term system for the presidency has the innate drawback of creating a lame duck phenomenon even in the early years in office, which leaves the country unsettled. A four-year double-term system has the advantage of assuring the voters of their right to reevaluate their president and his legacy in the first term," the association said in a report.

A motion for constitutional revision can be proposed by the president or over half of the National Assembly lawmakers and should be supported by more than two-thirds of the Assembly lawmakers before being put to a national referendum. The revised Constitution can then be enacted after its endorsement by half of the voters in a referendum.

The ruling Uri Party immediately welcomed Roh's proposal for a constitutional amendment in favor of a dual-term presidency.

"There is a considerable level of national consensus over the constitutional revision. Matching the tenures of the president and the National Assembly is necessary to avoid a waste of national resources and power," Uri Chairman Kim Geun-tae said.

But the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP), which controls 127 seats of the 299-seat unicameral Assembly, as well as all of its leading presidential contenders, expressed strong objection to Roh's proposal.

"Any discussion on constitutional change is inappropriate at this sensitive moment. Such debate should be made under the next administration," GNP spokeswoman Na Kyung-won said.

Park Geun-hye, former GNP chairwoman and one of the party's leading presidential contenders, also bashed Roh's proposal, saying in part that, "Roh is a really bad president. The president seems only interested in elections. The nation is unfortunate."

Former Seoul mayor Lee Myung-bak, who is the undisputed frontrunner in all popularity surveys of presidential hopefuls, also suggested that the discussions on constitutional revision be held under the next administration. The GNP holds the key to Roh's proposal as its parliamentary seats exceed two-thirds of the Assembly's quorum.

Seoul, Jan. 9 (Yonhap News)