Top MDP official calls for constitutional reform

One of the leaders of the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP), Rhee In-Je, called for a change in the constitution to allow for a single five-year term for the president, saying one term doesn`t allow for a stable administration because it necessitates frequent elections. ``There is good reason to revise the basic law now that the peculiar circumstances under which it was born are coming to an end,`` he said.

A member of the ruling party`s supreme council, Rhee told the press following a keynote address to the National Assembly on behalf of his party that a campaign for constitutional reform should start right away. An opinion poll showed that 57 percent of the people supported the idea of allowing the president two four-year terms and electing a vice president, he noted.

Lee pointed out that the tenure of the current members of the 16th National Assembly would have to be cut short to allow for the next election to coincide with that of the president. Referring to the existing provision of the basic law that bars such a change in favor of allowing two four-year terms for the president from taking effect in time for the next election, he said the legislature could change everything except ``the sexes of men and woman.``