Amending a Constitution and Political Realignment 2005
A survey conducted last week by the JoongAng Ilbo and the East Asia Institute found that more Koreans opposed the idea of a coalition government than supported it.
The survey of 815 men and women over 20, which was conducted on July 13 and 14, found 39-percent support for the coalition government idea, which was raised earlier this month by President Roh Moo-hyun and has been supported by the governing Uri Party. Forty-nine percent said they opposed the idea.
About a third of those who opposed it said they saw no need for a coalition government because political parties can already cooperate. Two-thirds were more strongly opposed, agreeing with the statement, "Be it a coalition cabinet or policymaking cooperation, the talk of coalition government must be withdrawn."
Forty-four percent of those polled said that if a coalition government is to be formed, all of the opposition parties should participate. Nineteen percent said the biggest opposition party, the Grand National Party, was the Uri Party’s appropriate partner in a coalition, while 11 percent cited the much smaller Democratic Labor Party.
Three-fifths of those surveyed agreed with the statement, "The present presidential system is not working properly." Of those people, 53 percent said the problem was incompetence, not the system. Sixteen percent cited resistance from powerful interests in society, and 11 percent cited resistance from opposition parties.
Forty-one percent of those surveyed said the Constitution should be amended to change the presidential system; 57 percent said there was no need to do so. That represents a substantial in support for such an amendment since last February, when a JoongAng Ilbo poll found 67-percent support for such an amendment.
Of those who supported amending the Constitution, 51 percent said the president should be put in charge of foreign affairs, with the National Assembly having responsibility for domestic affairs. Twenty-seven percent supported a pure presidential system, while 20 percent supported a parliamentary system.
Asked which political party they supported, 27 percent of respondents said the Grand National Parry. There was 19-percent support for the Uri Party, 13 percent for the Democratic Labor Party and 4 percent for the Millennium Democratic Party.