Jeonggae Special Committee Submits Basic Councilors' Large Constituency Election Law... People Power Party "Concerns of Rushed Passage" Democratic Party "Multi-Party System Reflects Public Will"

Jeonggae Special Committee Submits Major Electoral District Bill for Basic Councilors

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] The National Assembly's Special Committee on Political Reform abruptly submitted a revision bill to the Public Official Election Act on the 24th to introduce a multi-member constituency system that elects at least three basic council members in the June 1 local elections. Although the bill was submitted, it is uncertain whether it will pass with bipartisan agreement due to strong opposition from the People Power Party.

On the 24th, Kim Tae-nyeon, chairman of the Special Committee on Political Reform, adjourned the meeting after submitting the bill following a dispute between the Democratic Party and the People Power Party. The Democratic Party is determined to pass the multi-member constituency bill in the March National Assembly session, but the People Power Party opposes it, so further discussions are expected to be contentious. On this day’s committee meeting, both sides showed a tense difference in positions.

Kim Young-bae, the Democratic Party’s secretary of the Special Committee on Political Reform, said before the bill submission at the full committee meeting, “It is not the national way for the People Power Party to change their attitude after winning the election and engage in political disputes by saying ‘two-party system is right, why have a multi-party system?’” He raised his voice, saying, “The People Power Party won the presidential election by a margin of 0.73 percentage points, and if a minority party behaves tyrannically like this, is that acceptable?” Lee Tan-hee, also from the same party, said, “President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol said in front of the entire nation that he prefers the multi-member constituency system,” and added, “Ahn Cheol-soo, the transition committee chairman, said multi-party system is his conviction, and People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok also said the multi-member constituency system is his usual conviction.”

Cho Hae-jin, the People Power Party’s secretary of the Special Committee on Political Reform, said, “The redistricting of electoral districts is an issue for both ruling and opposition parties. By May 20, the majority party, the Democratic Party, should quickly handle this part,” urging again for redistricting. Cho criticized, “It is really incomprehensible that the Democratic Party is holding redistricting hostage and refusing to process the multi-member constituency system, implying they won’t handle this either.” Kang Min-kook, from the same party, criticized, “I cannot understand the Democratic Party demanding negotiations on the multi-member constituency system, which has not been discussed even once in the past three months, just because presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung suddenly made it a campaign pledge.” Jeon Ju-hye, also from the People Power Party, said, “From the People Power Party’s standpoint, there is no way to avoid concerns that the ruling party might push through the bill by force,” calling for bipartisan agreement on election-related legislation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.