The National Assembly Revisits 'Election Reform'... Can Ruling and Opposition Parties Reach Agreement by July?

Speaker of the National Assembly and Minju pressure "Processing within this month"
Conserving Kukhim "Party stance not confirmed"
Opposing party stances over "Proportional representation ratio"

The ruling and opposition parties are accelerating electoral system reform ahead of the general election scheduled for April next year. While the Speaker of the National Assembly and the opposition party, the Democratic Party of Korea, are pressuring for negotiations to be concluded by the end of this month, the ruling party, the People Power Party, is showing a reserved attitude, stating that its party stance has not yet been decided.

On the morning of the 3rd, Speaker Kim Jin-pyo met with the chief floor leaders of both parties and the secretaries of the Special Committee on Political Reform at the National Assembly, emphasizing the need to promptly conclude the electoral system negotiations. Speaker Kim said, "To hold the general election in April next year in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution and the election law, the election law negotiations must be completed by mid-July at the latest." He added, "Based on that, if the Special Committee on Political Reform completes the redistricting work with the National Election Commission by the end of August, the final electoral districts, which have usually been confirmed about 40 days before the election, could be finalized 4 to 5 months earlier this year."

He explained, "The reason why we cannot delay the electoral district negotiations any further is that it will be practically difficult due to the National Assembly schedule in the second half of the year, making it hard to discuss complex issues." He continued, "Unlike previous years, the leadership of each party, at least those who must decide the election law, have gone through sufficient deliberation, so I hope they can now make a decision."

At the inauguration ceremony of the 'Ruling and Opposition 2+2 Election System Reform Consultative Group' held on the 3rd at the National Assembly Speaker's Office, Song Ki-heon, the senior deputy floor leader of the Democratic Party, and Lee Yang-su, the senior deputy floor leader of the People Power Party, are shaking hands. From the left, Kim Young-bae, opposition party secretary of the Political Reform Special Committee and Democratic Party lawmaker; Song Ki-heon, senior deputy floor leader of the Democratic Party; Speaker Kim Jin-pyo; Lee Yang-su, senior deputy floor leader of the People Power Party; and Kim Sang-hoon, ruling party secretary of the Political Reform Special Committee and People Power Party lawmaker. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Earlier, the National Assembly held a plenary committee meeting in April to discuss electoral system reform but ultimately failed to reach a conclusion. The Special Committee on Political Reform announced the results of a public opinion survey conducted with 500 citizen participants at last month's plenary meeting, where 419 respondents (83.8%) said the National Assembly election system should be changed. Subsequently, a '2+2 consultative body' of the two party leaderships was launched under the Speaker's chairmanship last month, but there has been little progress.

The Democratic Party, claiming it has already formed a party stance, pressured the ruling party on electoral system negotiations. According to the Democratic Party, they are strongly considering a party stance that increases the proportion of proportional representation seats compared to the existing single-member district system (regional proportional representation system). Song Ki-heon, the Democratic Party's chief floor deputy leader, said, "To allow political figures outside the National Assembly to compete on an equal footing, I think the electoral system reform should be completed before the regular session of the National Assembly." He added, "Since there is considerable discussion within the People Power Party as well, it would be good to reach a conclusion quickly through more focused and detailed negotiations."

Kim Young-bae, the opposition party secretary of the Special Committee on Political Reform, emphasized, "Putting everything else aside, the Democratic Party believes that the two major parties should relinquish their vested interests and reform the electoral system and party system in a way that reduces the vested interests of incumbent lawmakers." He added, "We have practically formed a party stance through consultations with the leadership." He also said, "We will do our best to report the results of the electoral system negotiations to the public before the end of summer."

The People Power Party showed a reserved attitude toward negotiations, mentioning that its party stance has not yet been finalized. Recently, the People Power Party, led by Representative Kim Ki-hyun, has been advocating for a 'reduction in the number of National Assembly members.' They are considering adopting a party stance to reduce the number of lawmakers by 10% (30 members). This plan envisions cutting most of the seats from proportional representation rather than constituency seats, which conflicts with the Democratic Party's proposal.

On the same day, Lee Yang-su, the People Power Party's chief floor deputy leader, said, "Our goal is to negotiate diligently and conclude the election law negotiations as soon as possible, but the party stance has not yet been finalized. Although we have gauged the general opinions of lawmakers through the plenary committee, no major consensus has been reached." He added, "Jokingly, it has been said that the issue transcended party lines but not constituency lines, which shows how difficult it is to establish an electoral system."

Kim Sang-hoon, the ruling party secretary of the Special Committee on Political Reform, said, "If each party pursues proposals favorable to themselves during the electoral system reform discussions, this process could lose direction and drift aimlessly." He added, "I hope we can come up with a proposal that is not disadvantageous to any party."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

That afternoon, the Democratic Party held a bipartisan political reform meeting in the party leader's office to accelerate discussions on the electoral system. Most Democratic Party lawmakers attended the meeting, joined by Lee Jong-bae of the People Power Party and Lee Eun-joo of the Justice Party.

Members of the political reform group urged Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung to lead the electoral system reform discussions. Lee Jong-bae said, "This year, there has been a special bipartisan political reform group and many discussions, so such mistakes should not be repeated again." He added, "The current situation is too stagnant. I came to ask Leader Lee, who leads the largest party in the National Assembly, to start discussions quickly." Lee Eun-joo also said, "For electoral system reform, the Democratic Party and Leader Lee should take the lead." She added, "I hope the leader actively leads and supports prioritizing the discussion and passage of the 'Satellite Party Prevention Act' in the Special Committee on Political Reform."

In response, Leader Lee said, "The electoral system is a kind of game rule, so it is difficult for anyone to unilaterally decide it. However, I believe that if we make efforts to reform the political system beyond party lines, we can gradually move toward a reasonable electoral system that reflects the will of the people." He added, "The Democratic Party and I will also work together on this."

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