Speeding Up Electoral District Reform... Democratic Party to Establish Internal Opinion-Gathering Body

Park Hong-geun "Will Request Lee Jae-myung to Activate Units for Public Opinion Gathering on Election System Deliberation"
Focus on Specific Plans for Mixed-Member and Regional Proportional Representation... Aiming for Nationwide Party System in Next April's General Election

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The Democratic Party of Korea is expected to establish a body within the party to facilitate public discussion for the revision of the Public Official Election Act before April next year. Former President Roh Moo-hyun once stated, "Changing the electoral district system for National Assembly members brings far greater political development than simply gaining power once," highlighting the importance of this issue. Attention is now focused on whether the long-unchanged electoral system can finally be revised on this occasion.

Park Hong-geun, the floor leader of the Democratic Party, said at the recent 'Joint Discussion and Resolution Meeting for Election Law Revision in the Yeongnam Region' held at the National Assembly, "The Special Committee on Political Reform in this National Assembly will be fully operational by November," adding, "We must promptly establish a public discussion body and an opinion-gathering unit within the party to first articulate our party’s stance." He further promised, "I will request that the party leader and leadership quickly activate a public discussion and opinion-gathering unit to organize the Democratic Party’s position on political reform, especially regarding electoral system improvements."

This declaration signals that the Democratic Party intends to proceed with a formal process to consolidate party consensus on electoral system reform. Notably, this promise was made to regional chairpersons in the Yeongnam region, where the Democratic Party has been at a disadvantage following the presidential and local elections.

Park, the floor leader, stated, "Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung also pledged at the party convention to achieve a genuine and practical nationwide party presence," emphasizing, "For this pledge not to remain a slogan, institutional support is absolutely necessary."

Additionally, Park revealed, "Nam In-soon, the chairperson of the National Assembly’s Special Committee on Political Reform, has requested the party to establish an opinion-gathering process to receive concrete party positions." The idea of preparing a specific proposal on the electoral system is not solely Park’s but is being pursued in consultation with the Special Committee on Political Reform.

The discussion forum also symbolically honors the late Heo Dae-man, former chairman of the Democratic Party’s Gyeongbuk Provincial Party Committee, who dedicated his life to overcoming regionalism in Daegu and Gyeongbuk, traditionally a Democratic Party stronghold. Having run seven times for National Assembly and mayoral positions but repeatedly thwarted by regionalism, Heo passed away at 53. The forum’s organizers, including Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Du-kwan, have proposed election law amendments bearing Heo’s name to carry forward his legacy in institutional reform.

The Democratic Party had previously adopted election law revision as party policy. In February, ahead of the presidential election, the party held a caucus and adopted the 'Political Reform Plan for National Integration' as party policy. The reform plan included introducing a National Assembly recommendation system for the Prime Minister, establishing a policy cooperation committee among the ruling party, opposition, and government to formulate a basic national plan, forming a bipartisan National Security Council, and creating a Social Grand Bargain Committee for national integration government formation. It also proposed constitutional amendments for a four-year single term with a runoff election system and electoral district reforms. The electoral reform pledges included introducing a mixed-member proportional representation system and regional proportional representation to prevent satellite parties, and significantly enhancing proportionality in local elections through multi-member districts with three or more members.

Although these pledges were made ahead of the presidential election, the Democratic Party reaffirmed its commitment to reform through the 'Resolution for National Integration and Political Change' at the August 28 party convention (the 5th Regular National Delegate Convention).

Kim Dong-yeon, former chairman of the Democratic Party’s Political Change Promotion Committee and governor of Gyeonggi Province, declared, "We will complete the revision of the current election law and institutional reforms to relinquish the privileges of National Assembly members by April next year," adding, "We will also amend the Political Parties Act and Political Funds Act, which weaken the grassroots foundation of party politics." This statement sets a clear timeline and direction for electoral system reform.

Park, the floor leader, expressed a renewed determination to approach electoral reform differently this time. He said, "Looking back, special committees on political reform were always formed before elections, but sensitive and contentious issues often failed to reach consensus, with only minor matters agreed upon," adding, "Now is the time for Korean politics to change, and to transform the National Assembly, we must first change the entrenched vested interests. I am confident that this is the path to breaking down the walls of regionalism."

Democratic Party lawmakers have submitted bills including regional proportional representation and the introduction of a mixed-member proportional representation system to prevent satellite parties. Notably, lawmaker Kim Du-kwan proposed an amendment to the Public Official Election Act to elect proportional representatives from six metropolitan regions instead of a single nationwide constituency. The core idea is to introduce an open-list proportional representation system to lower the barriers for politicians active in local areas to overcome regionalism.

Lawmaker Lee Sang-min recently proposed an election law amendment to introduce multi-member districts in constituencies, electing four to five members per district, along with an equal number of regional proportional representatives. This amendment, which attracted attention as it was attended by lawmakers from five parties, proposes reducing the current 253 constituencies to 127, introducing 127 regional proportional representatives, and 46 nationwide proportional representatives.

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