S.Korea’s Moon proposes to weaken presidential powers

South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Monday proposed weakening the powers of his office, lowering the voting age and allowing the head of state to be re-elected for a second term in a package of constitutional reforms.

South Korea is a vibrant democracy but its executive presidency is extremely powerful, giving rise to a winner-takes-all politics which critics say enables corruption while reducing representation for opposition voices.

In last year’s election Moon campaigned on a promise to reform the constitution for the first time in three decades.

The vote was a by-election to choose a successor to his ousted predecessor Park Geun-hye, toppled over a wide-ranging corruption scandal.

Prosecutors are now seeking a 30 year jail sentence for her, and her own predecessor Lee Myung-bak was arrested last week in a separate inquiry.

Moon’s plan has to be approved by parliament before being put to a referendum in June, and its centerpiece measure would see the country’s single five-year presidency be reduced to a four-year term, with one opportunity to stand for re-election.

South Korea brought in term limits after the assassination of the late leader Park Chung-hee, Park Geunhye’s father, who ruled from 1961 to 1979 and revised the constitution to allow him to rule indefinitely.