ferendum, the 'confidence the public has in its representative' cannot be a subject matter for a national referendum and the decision of and the confidence in the representative under our Constitution may be performed and manifested solely through elections. The President's attempt to reconfirm the public's trust in him that was obtained through the past election in the form of a referendum constitutes an unconstitutional use of the institution of a national referendum provided in Article 72 of the Constitution in a way not permitted by the Constitution. The Constitution does not permit the President to ask the public's trust in him by way of national referendum. The constitution further prohibits as an unconstitutional act the act of the President subjecting a specific policy to a referendum and linking the matter of confidence thereto. Of course, when the President institutes a referendum for a specific policy and fails to obtain the consent of the public concerning the implementation of such policy, the President may possibly resign by regarding such outcome as public's distrust in him or her. However, should the President submit a policy matter to a referendum and declare at the same time that "I shall regard the outcome of the referendum as a confidence vote," this act will unduly influence the decisionmaking of the public and employ the referendum as a means to indirectly ask confidence in the President, therefore will exceed the constitutional authority vested in the President. The Constitution does not vest in the President the authority to ask the confidence in him or her by the public through a national referendum, directly or indirectly. (D) Furthermore, the Constitution does not permit a national confidence referendum in any other form than the national referendum that is expressly provided in the Constitution. This is also true even when a confidence referendum is demanded by the people as the sovereign or implemented under the name of the people. The people directly exercise the state power by way of the election and the national referendum, and the national referendum requires an express basis therefor within the Constitution as a means by which the people exercise the state power. Therefore, national referendum cannot be grounded on such general constitutional principles as people's sovereignty or democracy, and, instead, can only be permitted when there is a ground expressly provided in the Constitution. (E) In conclusion, the President's suggestion to hold a national referendum on whether he should remain in office is an unconstitutional exercise of the President's authority to institute a national referendum delegated by Article 72 of the Constitution, and thus it is in violation of the constitutional obligation not to abuse the mechanism of the national referendum as a political tool to fortify his own political po- - 188 -