Efforts to Reduce the Number of Assembly Members... No Disagreement on Promoting Parallel Proportional Representation System

People Power Party Holds Policy Lawmaker Meeting on the 1st Morning
No Disagreement on Parallel Proportional Representation and Reduction of Lawmaker Numbers
"A Compromise Between the Two Major Parties Is Needed"

The People Power Party reiterated that there is no disagreement within the party regarding opposition to expanding the number of lawmakers and the promotion of a 'parallel proportional representation system.'

On the 1st, Yoon Jae-ok, the floor leader of the People Power Party, told reporters after a policy lawmakers' meeting, "Our party has insisted from the beginning of negotiations that a nationwide parallel proportional representation system should be implemented."

Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the Policy Lawmaker General Assembly held at the National Assembly on the 1st. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

In the current National Assembly election system, proportional representation seats are allocated in proportion to the party vote share. It is divided into mixed-member proportional representation, which links constituency seats, and parallel representation, which allocates seats to parties based on the party vote share regardless of constituency seats. Regional mixed-member proportional representation is regarded as having a high degree of proportionality between votes and seats. In the 2020 general election, among 47 proportional representation seats, 30 were allocated under the semi-mixed system and 17 under the parallel system.

Floor leader Yoon said, "Our party strongly opposed the election law when the semi-mixed proportional representation system was introduced and there is no particular disagreement within our party about moving toward a parallel proportional representation system."

Some opposition parties argue that adopting a parallel proportional representation system would actually reduce proportionality. Minor parties both inside and outside the National Assembly, including the Justice Party, Basic Income Party, Labor Party, Green Party, Progressive Party, and Transition Korea, held a joint press conference at the National Assembly main building on the same day, expressing opposition to the move to abolish the semi-mixed proportional representation system, which sparked controversy over 'satellite parties.'

Bae Jin-kyo, floor leader of the Justice Party, said at the press conference, "There are reports from the two major parties that they intend to blatantly steal seats stolen by satellite parties through the parallel proportional representation system," criticizing, "The secret collusion of the two major parties is a crisis for democracy." He added, "Bring the election system negotiation table back to the National Assembly's Political Reform Special Committee (Jeonggae Special Committee), not the secret meetings of the two major parties. The seed of hostile mutual destruction was sown by satellite parties, not the semi-mixed proportional representation system. Stop the baseless agitation and withdraw the bill to abolish the mixed-member proportional representation system."

In response, floor leader Yoon said, "A compromise point must be found between the two parties."

Regarding the reduction of the number of lawmakers, floor leader Yoon also stated that there is no change in the People Power Party's position. He said, "Since our party leader (Kim Ki-hyun) has officially advocated for reduction, we will continue to strive for reduction during the negotiation process."

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