Moon urges fixing unconstitutional Referendum Law

Current law bans overseas Koreans from voting

Cheong Wa Dae urged the National Assembly, Wednesday, to quickly revise a law on referenda, saying lawmakers were doing nothing to fix the problem even though it was ruled unconstitutional four years ago.

The presidential office said if the Assembly fails to revise the law, it will be impossible to hold a referendum on a constitutional revision in tandem with the June 13 local elections as planned.

President Moon Jae-in may send a letter to the Assembly this week asking for the law revision, according to presidential chief of staff Im Jong-seok.

“Regardless of whether the ruling and opposition blocs agree on each detailed item of changes to the Constitution, if they are really committed to constitutional amendment, they should revise the Referendum Law first,” Im said.

“I urge the Assembly to revise the law during its extraordinary session in April to restore the people’s rights and show its determination for constitutional changes.”

In July 2014, the Constitutional Court ruled the law was unconstitutional because it banned overseas Koreans from participating in referenda if they did not have an address in Korea.

The court ordered the Assembly to revise the relevant clause by the end of 2015 but it failed to do so. In January, the National Election Commission concluded any referendum, whether it is for a constitutional amendment or other issues, would be impossible without a revi- sion to the law because it could not draw up a list of eligible voters.

The commission earlier requested the Assembly to revise the law by April 23, according to the timeline for the referendum, to be held alongside the elections.

“Leaving the Referendum Law intact is depriving the people of their right to vote,” Im said, adding the state cannot ask the public for their opinion about not only the revision but also any important policy.

“It infringes on the direct democracy guaranteed by the Constitution,” he said. “Without correcting it, the Assembly cannot avoid criticism for dereliction of duty.”

Im said several lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties have submitted bills to revise the law but discussions on the issue have not made any progress.

“The ruling and opposition blocs do not hold clearly different views from each other, so they can revise the law right away if they decide to. It is antithetical for the Assembly to promise to amend the Constitution on the one hand and be reluctant to revise the Referendum Law on the other,” he said.

Holding the referendum on the constitutional revision and local elections together was a campaign pledge of president Moon. As the Assembly was not making progress over the issue, the President submitted his own constitutional revision bill at the end of March.

“If we miss the chance to hold the referendum and the local elections together, the initiative to change the Constitution will lose its driving force,” a senior Cheong Wa Dae official said.

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea echoed Im’s view, calling on the opposition bloc to cooperate in the process to revise the Referendum Law in April.