Text Fwd: [Hankyoreh Editorial]The Lee faction’s politicized Constitutional amendment

Hankyoreh
[Editorial] The Lee faction’s politicized Constitutional amendment

Jan. 25, 2011

The general meeting of Grand National Party lawmakers to discuss the issue of amending the Constitution [to create a two-term presidential system] has reportedly been pushed back from its originally scheduled date on Tuesday until after the Lunar New Year holiday. The ostensible reasons for this include the ranging foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, as well as the overseas business activity of a number of lawmakers. In reality, however, this is simply an effort to buy time now that the amendment debate has lost so much steam that it is difficult to meet a quorum for the meeting. The proposed amendment would adopt a two-term four-year presidency similar to the United States to replace South Korea’s current single-term, five-year system.


The common wisdom at the present time is that amending the Constitution is neither appropriate nor feasible. Not only have the proponents failed to gain agreement from the opposition, but there is not even a consensus within the GNP. Most crucially, the reaction from South Koreans has been decidedly chilly. One public opinion poll showed less than 10 percent of citizens agreeing with the establishment of a “decentralized presidential system,” as members of the Lee Myung-bak faction in the GNP have been calling for. It is for this reason that some are noting the close resemblance between the current amendment debate and the situation with the revisions to the Sejong City Development Plan. They are nearly identical in terms of the lack of popular support, the scant level of feasibility, and the intense opposition within the GNP between Lee’s supporters and those of Park Geun-hye.

Under these circumstances, some analysts have suggested that the real goal of the amendment debate is to establish unity in the pro-Lee faction and strengthen the political position of certain individuals. In other words, the amendment issue is merely a prop, with other political motivations. In particular, suspicious has settled around Minister for Special Affairs Lee Jae-oh, who has adopted the mantle of “evangelist for amendment of the Constitution.” Indeed, a debate held yesterday afternoon at Seoul’s Sejong Center for the Performing Arts under Lee’s leadership looked less like a simple debate and more like an event to rally political forces. Lee did his utmost to justify an amendment, making out-of-the-blue statements about how “we need to amendment the Constitution for the sake of an upright and fair society.”

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