What Is the 'Regional Parallel Proportional Representation System'... "Minority Opposition Parties Can't Gain a Foothold in the National Assembly"

Opposition 4 Parties Hold Press Conference, Call It a "Political Regression"
Lee Jeong-mi: "Satellite Parties Should Not Be Created If Each Party Refuses"

'Parallel-type proportional representation is a betrayal of the Candlelight Movement'

'Stop the regression to parallel-type regional proportional representation that destroys proportionality and representation'

On the morning of the 14th, a remarkable scene unfolded as minor opposition parties such as the Justice Party, Labor Party, Green Party, and Progressive Party held a sit-in protest in front of the Democratic Party of Korea's caucus meeting room, holding placards with these messages.

They held a press conference on the stairs in front of the National Assembly's Rotunda Hall, raising their voices that "the regression to parallel-type proportional representation is a political regression." What exactly is the 'parallel-type regional proportional representation system' that made minor opposition parties hold placards inside the National Assembly?

[Image source=Yonhap News]

What Exactly Is the Parallel-type Regional Proportional Representation?

What is the parallel-type regional proportional representation? It is a system that divides the entire country into 3 to 6 regions and allocates 47 proportional representation seats within those regions according to the parties' vote shares. The semi-linked proportional representation system agreed upon in the 20th National Assembly distributes all seats according to the parties' vote shares and adjusts the number of proportional seats based on the results of constituency elections. If this system is reverted to the parallel type, the number of seats for minor parties is likely to decrease. Also, changing from a nationwide system to a regional one further reduces the seats allocated to minor parties.

The parallel-type regional proportional representation system is disadvantageous to minor parties in many ways. Lee Jeong-mi, leader of the Justice Party, said on MBC's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' that "this is a system that not only prevents the Justice Party but also third parties from gaining a foothold in the National Assembly," adding that "it tramples on the achievements of the reform cooperation in the 20th National Assembly itself."

The Justice Party suspects that the two major parties schemed this 'election system regression' behind closed doors. Bae Jin-gyo, floor leader of the Justice Party, expressed outrage on the 12th, saying, "There are reports that Speaker Kim Jin-pyo demanded the Democratic Party and People Power Party to agree on the small constituency parallel-type regional proportional representation system for a plenary session on September 21," criticizing the move. The official election reform discussion body, the Political Reform Special Committee, has been left inactive, while the two major parties allegedly attempted to revert to the parallel-type proportional representation through a '2+2 closed-door negotiation,' with Speaker Kim also suspected of condoning this.

Leader Lee also said, "I believe in the Speaker's sincere advocacy for proportional election reform, but to create an agreement between the two parties, they inevitably have to agree on what both sides like. I wonder if this means he holds a regressive stance."

How to Solve the Satellite Party Issue

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Minor opposition parties insist on maintaining the existing semi-linked proportional representation system, but since this system caused problems such as the proliferation of satellite parties in the last general election, there are also calls for essential election system reform.

Regarding this, Leader Lee said, "Satellite parties would not exist if each party simply did not create them," adding, "Because of mutual suspicion and concerns about what to do if the other side creates one, we submitted a bill to prevent satellite parties to the National Assembly. However, this bill has not been addressed, and reverting to the parallel system blaming satellite parties seems nothing more than a pretext for the two major parties to secure their own seats."

While the People Power Party strongly advocates for a return to the parallel-type proportional representation, there are many voices within the Democratic Party opposing this regression. On the same day, Democratic Party floor spokesperson Lee So-young told reporters after the caucus meeting, "Regression to the parallel system is not the Democratic Party's position."

For minor opposition parties, the Democratic Party is at least a 'negotiable counterpart.' This is why the four minor opposition parties staged a sit-in in front of the Democratic Party's caucus meeting room. Leader Lee said, "Since the People Power Party has consistently expressed their position, there is no need to further confirm it. It is time for the Democratic Party to clarify whether they truly hold such a view (regression to the parallel system)."

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