South Korea’s election front runner proposes 2-term presidency to decentralise power
Latest polling shows the front runner Lee Jae-myung leading the race with a 51 per cent support rate for the June 3 election
South Korea’s leading presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung proposed a constitutional amendment to shorten the presidency to four years with a two-term limit, calling it a move to better balance power.
The proposal comes before South Koreans are set to go to the polls to elect their next leader for a single, five-year term in a snap vote triggered by the impeachment of ex-president Yoon Suk-yeol. Latest polling shows Lee, the nominee of the opposition Democratic Party, leading the race with a 51 per cent support rate for the June 3 election.
“Let’s make the president more accountable and decentralise power,” Lee said in a Facebook post on Sunday. “A four-year, two-term presidency would allow for midterm evaluations of the administration, which would increase its accountability.”
Responding to reporters at an event in Gwangju, Lee said the constitution does not allow a presidential term revision to be applied to the leader in charge, Yonhap News said. The comments were likely an attempt to dispel speculation that the election front runner is seeking term changes that can benefit himself and the party.
He also proposed a series of measures to give more power to the parliament, such as restricting the president’s right to veto bills and requiring parliamentary approval to declare martial law.
“If discussions progress fast enough, we will be able to ask what people want at the 2026 local elections, or at the 2028 general elections even if delayed,” Lee wrote in his Facebook post.
The election of South Korea’s next president will be a crucial step in putting the export powerhouse back on track after Yoon’s shock martial law decree in December unleashed the country’s worst constitutional crisis in decades.
The ex-president has blamed Lee’s party for paralysing the government with impeachment motions and cuts to budget plans. The Democratic Party currently controls the 300-seat parliament.
On Saturday, Yoon left the People Power Party to pave the way for the conservatives to attract more swing voters as the martial law debacle casts a long shadow over its flag-bearer, Kim Moon-soo. Kim, a former labour minister under Yoon, won plaudits from conservatives for opposing Yoon’s impeachment and refusing to apologise for the martial law decree.
Lee and Kim, along with other presidential hopefuls, will hold their first TV debate later on Sunday. Three debates are planned ahead of the June polls.
