Itanhee: "Reducing 30 seats? They will become noble and emperor lawmakers"

Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Tan-hee opposed the proposal from the People Power Party to reduce the number of parliamentary seats by 30 in relation to the election system reform, stating that "reducing the number of seats strengthens the vested interests of lawmakers."

On the 12th, on KBS's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strongest Current Affairs,' Lee said, "The more you reduce (the seats), the more they become aristocratic lawmakers, emperor lawmakers."

Lee Tan-hee, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the full committee meeting held on the 10th at the National Assembly plenary session hall in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Currently, the National Assembly is holding a 'plenary committee' for the first time in 20 years, where all lawmakers participate in a heated debate on election system reform. Meanwhile, Kim Ki-hyun, leader of the People Power Party, insists that the number of seats should be reduced by 30. This is because public opinion strongly opposes expanding the number of lawmakers, especially among conservatives who want a reduction in the number of parliamentary seats.

Lee also seems to recognize this public sentiment. He said, "It seems that the public has complaints regarding the issue of the number of lawmakers," adding, "Lawmakers have been setting their own salaries and the number of seats themselves, and self-appointments have always been controversial, which I think has caused a lot of distrust."

He then suggested entrusting the issue of the number of lawmakers to a 'third party.' Lee said, "Regarding the number of seats, lawmakers should step back for at least the next year and entrust it to a third party where citizens and experts directly participate," adding, "A public opinion survey committee could be a good example."

Lee also advocated for a 50% reduction in lawmakers' salaries. He stated, "I propose that the salary determination be entrusted to a citizen participation body, but lawmakers should first declare to align their salaries with the average household income as a way to relinquish vested interests. Whether by coincidence or inevitability, we currently receive twice the average household income, and aligning salaries with the average household income would help us carry out legislative activities with a sense of the average lifestyle of Korean citizens.

He emphasized the need to reform the single-member district system, which fosters a 'winner-takes-all' mentality and demonizes opponents, and to expand proportional representation. Lee said, "Our election law is structured to create a reflexive benefit. If there are two strong candidates, and you just make the opponent unable to be voted for, you win. This leads to demonizing the opponent. In the past, this was regionalism, but now it has spread to gender, generation, and various political tendencies. The reason this kind of politics keeps thriving is because the winner-takes-all structure naturally leads to victory if you just prevent the opponent from being voted for."

He added, "In the past, most calls were to increase proportional representation seats, but now there are two options. One is to increase proportional representation seats, and the second, if increasing proportional seats is difficult, is to maintain the current number of seats but elect lawmakers proportionally even in local constituencies."

This means that one party can nominate multiple candidates in a single constituency, and seats are allocated based on the number of votes. He explained, "It would be a 5-member constituency. In this case, the Democratic Party could nominate 4 candidates, the People Power Party 3 candidates, and the Justice Party 2 candidates, allowing multiple nominations. Voters would choose a party and then select their favorite candidate among several within that party."

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