Opposition parties united Thursday in criticizing National Assembly Speaker Jo Jeong-sik after he said allowing the incumbent president to seek re-election through constitutional reform was "a matter of public choice."
People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok, speaking at a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly, called on President Lee Jae Myung to address the controversy directly. "Stop calling it a conspiracy theory — this ends the moment the president says five words: 'There will be no second term,'" Jang said. "If he cannot say that, the public will soon move on to a new five-word phrase: 'impeach Lee Jae Myung.'"
Jang pushed back against the ruling camp's attempts to dismiss the opposition's criticism as a conspiracy theory. "Democratic Party lawmaker Song Yeong-gil also said it was wrong to push for a constitutional amendment allowing re-election for the sitting president — is he a conspiracy theorist too?" Jang said. He added that former Democratic Party leader Jung Chung-rae had suggested Speaker Jo was "baited" by a reporter's question. "Doesn't that mean his true intentions slipped out when his guard was down?" Jang said.
Jang said everyone had understood the proposal to mean the incumbent president would be eligible for re-election. "Someone floats the idea, and when it causes problems, they cut their losses — and when the president is asked about it, he just smiles and acts like it's someone else's business," he said.
Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok, speaking to reporters after the party's supreme council meeting Thursday, said the public's negative reaction stemmed from the failure to fully rule out any ambition or possibility of a second term.
On the results of an internal poll conducted by the Reform Party, Lee said the findings showed that "a significant portion of the public accepts that there is demand for constitutional reform, but also holds the position that it must not result in an attempt to extend the current president's term."
The poll, conducted Thursday by the party's policy research arm, the Reform Research Institute, surveyed 508 men and women aged 18 and older nationwide. Asked what they thought about changing the current single five-year presidential term to a two-term four-year system, 55.2 percent opposed the change while 42.5 percent supported it — a gap outside the margin of error.
On the question of amending the constitution to allow the incumbent president to seek re-election, opposition was even stronger, with 64.7 percent against and 32.5 percent in favor. Under Article 128, Paragraph 2 of the constitution, any constitutional amendment to extend or change the presidential term takes no effect for the president in office at the time the amendment is proposed.
Earlier, presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said Wednesday that President Lee had described re-election as something "the constitutional framework of our country does not permit, the public will not accept, and which is realistically impossible," in response to questions about Speaker Jo's remarks.
mp1256@heraldcorp.com
