South Korean President Park Geun-hye called Monday for scrapping the limit on presidential terms to a single five-year spell, saying the current constitution undermines continuity of policy at home and abroad.

Park’s remarks come a little more than a year before South Korea’s presidential election, and could trigger a political race among interest groups and potential candidates to change the constitution to their favor.

While Park didn’t propose a clear alternative to the current system, her speech in parliament marked the first time she has called for revising the top law during her tenure. Her comments coincide with opinion polls that put her approval rating at an all-time low.

“Changing the constitution is such a huge issue that it may also throw off discussions on other key policy issues,” Yoon Hee-woong, a senior analyst at Seoul-based political research group Opinionlive, said by phone. South Korea’s parliament is divided on issues from the restructuring of the country’s shipbuilding industries to allowing the U.S. to deploy its ballistic missile defense system on the peninsula.

South Korea’s limit on presidential terms came into effect after a pro-democracy movement in 1987 forced the military junta to agree to a constitutional revision to allow voters to directly choose their president. Support from two-thirds of its parliament is required to change the constitution.

South Korean lawmakers have debated alternatives in recent years, including the adoption of a Japanese-style cabinet system or a dual power structure in which the president handles foreign affairs while the prime minister oversees economic and other domestic issues.

It will take a long time to build consensus for a constitutional revision because all options will have to be debated, said Choi Chang-ryul, a political commentator and professor of liberal arts at Yong In University.

(Bloomberg)