Bae Jin-gyo "Beyond Political Disappearance to Political Extinction Era... No Politics Even During Main Opposition Party's 20-Day Hunger Strike"

Parallel Proportional Representation Regression Is a Clear Step Back
Proposal to Withdraw Tax Cuts and Establish a 100 Trillion Won Livelihood Recovery Fund

Jin-kyo Bae, floor leader of the Justice Party, criticized on the 21st, saying, "Both the opposition party that does not restrain itself and the ruling party that says there is no tolerance are so low that it is impossible to say which side is better."

On the same day, through a speech by the representative of non-negotiating parties at the National Assembly plenary session, Floor Leader Bae lamented the political situation of extreme confrontation rather than cooperation between the ruling and opposition parties. He said, "We are witnessing an era of political extinction beyond the disappearance of politics. The hunger strike of the leader of the main opposition party has exceeded 20 days, but politics still does not exist."

Bae Jin-kyo, floor leader of the Justice Party, is delivering a representative speech of non-negotiating groups at the plenary session held at the National Assembly on the 21st. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Floor Leader Bae pointed out, "The person responsible for state affairs is the government and the ruling party," adding, "Signals that the livelihood crisis has reached a dangerous level are ringing everywhere, but there is no sign of any ambition to find a way out, only a narrow-minded attitude of not wanting to lose at all costs." He questioned, "I really want to ask if this attitude of the government and ruling party responsible for state affairs is correct." He continued, "Cooperation shouted with words is hollow," and urged, "Show the ruling forces' sense of responsibility and ambition through actions."

In particular, Floor Leader Bae reiterated his opposition to electing proportional representatives through a parallel system regarding the electoral system. He explained, "The current semi-proportional representation system is a precious hope that the Justice Party obtained after painstaking efforts to supplement the winner-takes-all parallel electoral system," adding, "Although not perfect, it is much more democratic than the parallel system." Floor Leader Bae said, "Some in the political circle are now using satellite parties as an excuse to return to the old parallel electoral system," calling it "a clear regression."

Floor Leader Bae said, "Looking back at the history since democratization, the higher the seat share of the two major parties, the more our politics has regressed," and added, "No party should monopolize more than a majority anymore." Regarding the issue of satellite parties, which is cited as a reason for abolishing the mixed-member proportional representation system, he said, "It is enough to add provisions to the current election law to prevent satellite parties."

Additionally, Floor Leader Bae proposed withdrawing the tax cuts passed last year and creating a Livelihood Recovery Fund based on that. He said, "The Justice Party proposes to raise a 100 trillion won Livelihood Recovery Fund over five years," and urged, "Let's immediately activate the National Fiscal Management Council proposed by the opposition party." He said, "According to the National Assembly Budget Office, tax cuts through corporate tax, income tax, comprehensive real estate tax, and special tax laws passed by the National Assembly last year amount to 82 trillion won over five years," and added, "Let's withdraw the tax cuts for the wealthy and create a 100 trillion won Livelihood Recovery Fund over five years based on those resources."

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