Opposition politicians renewed calls for constitutional revisions to reduce the president’s powers, but parliamentary debate on the subject is likely to be shelved in favor of other issues, parliamentary sources said Sunday.

The main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy has been proposing to rewrite the Constitution for months. The president’s powers are too broad, they say, and the office’s authority over Cabinet nominations, among other things, should be cut back.

But talks on reform have fizzled out due to wrangling over other issues and President Park Geun-hye’s lukewarm response to the proposals. Parliamentary sources said the trend would continue as other sensitive issues beg the National Assembly’s attention.

President Park Geun-hye and the top brass within her governing Saenuri Party have emphasized that it is the economy that matters most, not political debate on constitutional reform, which could drown out legislation of key economic reform bills.

Park and the Saenuri Party have vowed to prioritize labor market deregulation and public servants’ pension reforms this year. The policies aim to increase employment and reduce the national debt.

Saenuri Party chair Rep. Kim Moo-sung’s urge to follow through on the reforms was visible when he expressed frustration during a press briefing following his New Year speech last week.

Reporters had asked about political scandals and constitutional reform, and barely discussed the speech itself, which focused on economic reforms.

The Saenuri Party on Thursday appeared determined to put off constitutional reforms.

After a lengthy two-hour closed-door meeting of the floor leaders and chairs of the NPAD and the Saenuri Party, spokesmen for the two parties released a joint statement saying they agreed on the “need for constitutional reform,” but that they would “discuss details at a later date.”

The NPAD, the main supporters of constitutional reform, also appear to be taking a break from the issue.

“We are not sure when we will be able to discuss the matter again,” NPAD deputy floor leader Rep. Ahn Gyu-baek told The Korea Herald on Sunday. There was no major in-house debate on how to push for constitutional reform at the Assembly, the lawmaker added.

Constitutional reform is almost as old as South Korea itself. The country was founded in 1948. The first revision came in 1952, and the Constitution was amended eight more times under military rule. The last revision came in 1987, when military rule ended.

“Calls for constitutional reform usually come when politicians want to change the political rules to their advantage,” Myongji University professor Chung Jin-min said.

A majority of NPAD and a few Saenuri lawmakers support strengthening the prime minister’s authority over domestic affairs and allowing the parliament to elect the prime minister, instead of giving the president the right to appoint the administration’s No. 2 official.

By Jeong Hunny ()


koreaherald@heraldcorp.com