Published : Jan. 31, 2017 - 16:17
Former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday called for a constitutional revision before the upcoming presidential election, in which he is highly anticipated to make a bid as a conservative candidate.
He thereby suggested to reduce the current five-year single-term presidency and to establish a task force involving both the ruling camp and opposition.
The former top diplomat’s drive to revise the nation‘s basic law was largely taken as his move to regain political momentum, which has stalled recently, while the election draws near.
“I suggest that we constitute a consultative body made of representatives from all parties and factions, in order to push ahead with constitutional revision before the presidential election,” Ban said in a press conference held in his camp headquarters in Mapo.
Former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (Yonhap)
Despite rampant speculations, he once again withheld his stance on whether or not to join a specific political party -- the newly formed conservative Bareun Party, in particular.
Ban had long been counted as a plausible candidate for the ruling conservative Saenuri Party, but with the party split in half following President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment motion, he currently remains independent, gesturing to remain so for a while.
Since returning to his home country earlier this month, Ban has been making public appearances, apparently bracing for the imminent election campaign, but has not yet officially announced his aspiration.
His strategy is first to form a “big tent,” an idea of stepping beyond the conventional conservative pool and embracing even centrist and mildly progressives.
The former UN official‘s approval rating, however, has recently been stalled amid queueing bribery scandals involving his family members.
A survey conducted by local pollster Realmeter early last week showed that Ban’s approval rating stood at 15.4 percent, lagging far behind Moon’s 32.8 percent rating.
The conservative presidential aspirant singled out Moon Jae-in, former chairman and presidential frontrunner of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea.
“Moon’s claim that there is not enough time (for the revision) before the election is but an excuse,” Ban said.
“(Moon) should no longer hide the ambitions for power, hidden under the pretext of government change.”
Ban then said that he is ready to accept a shorter presidential term for the sake of constitutional revision.
Altering the nation‘s basic law, which has remained unchanged since 1987, has long been a subject of discussion.
A key issue was to change the current presidential system to a double-term, four-year one, and to disperse the state governance power.
Ban had asserted, in his speech made before the Lunar New Year holiday, that the Constitution should be revised before the election, not afterwards.
“We have so often witnessed presidents who make vows for constitutional revision but these peter out later, once they take power,” he said.
By Bae Hyun-jung (
tellme@heraldcorp.com)