Three Presidential Hopefuls Unleash Election Pledges

Presidential candidates are putting forth their political reform plan one after another.

Independent presidential candidate Chung Mong-jun moved first to demand a political revolution. Roh Moo-hyun, presidential candidate of the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) followed suit by proposing a detailed political reform program including the transparent operation of election fund and the reform of political parties. Lee Hoi-chang, presidential candidate of the Grand National Party (GNP) is also expected to announce his version of a political reform plan.

▽Lee Hoi-chang of GNP= He focuses on putting an end to the `imperial presidential system`, which grants every power in the hands of the president. He emphasizes that it is urgent to put in perspective the relations between the president, political party and the National Assembly. The president should be rational and persuasive so that he can seek cooperation from the legislature without wielding his power. Specifically he proposes granting prime minister the right to have control over the cabinet.

Lee also proposes establishing an independent body to investigate corruption scandals involving family and relatives of the president in order to root out corruption of family members and relatives of the president. He is also considering introducing a free voting system of lawmakers and an upward nomination system. Lee is expected to put together these envisioned plans and propose them as election pledges.

▽Roh Moo-hyun of the MDP= Cho Soon-hyung, co-chairman of the election campaign committee of the MDP said in a press conference that up and coming political leaders equipped with high morality should rally together to replace anachronistic and corrupt political forces He proposed a political reform measure titled `Clean Clear Korea Project`.

Roh guaranteed the participation of civic groups in the process of collection, execution and reporting of election fund and the revelation of the everyday statement of election fund use via the Internet. He also promised to raise election fund in a transparent way such as a campaign to appeal 1 million public to donate 10,000 won and to use less money than the election fund ceiling set by the law.

As reform measures for party structure, he proposed to only allow people who pay membership due as party member, and to entitle all party members to participate in major decision making processes via the Internet. He also proposed 25 other measures to prevent a limited number of people from wielding excessive power and to reform the National Assembly. Among the measures are the overhaul of the presidential secretariat and the transfer of the functions of the board of audit and inspection to the National Assembly.

▽Rep. Chung Mong-joon= He announced that if elected, he would relocate the headquarters of his party to the National Assembly and not have party spokesman, nor party chairman.

By that, he means to realize a political system similar to that in the US.

He said that he would grant virtual power to the party whip and the chairman of the policy making committee. He also guaranteed that the party line would not be decided by a small bunch of senior party officials, but by the entire party members through a free voting system. According to his proposal, party chapters would be operated only during election periods by voluntary workers.