Ruling and Opposition Parties Fail to Agree on Introducing Large Constituency System... Difficult to Apply to June 1 Local Elections

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[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] The ruling and opposition parties failed to reach an agreement on the introduction of a multi-member district system for basic councilors. The parties have decided to handle the revision of the Public Official Election Act, which adjusts the population ratio between the most and least populous electoral districts?an issue with potential unconstitutionality?at the plenary session on the 15th.

On the afternoon of the 12th, the chief deputy floor leaders of both parties and the secretaries of the Special Committee on Political Reform held negotiations at the National Assembly regarding electoral district delineation but failed to agree on the introduction of the multi-member district system for basic councilors.

Oh Young-hwan, the Democratic Party floor spokesperson, told reporters immediately after the party meeting, "As a result of continued consultations between the chief deputy floor leaders of both parties during the meeting, we ultimately failed to reach an agreement, and the party stance was decided to resolve only the existing unconstitutional issues for now."

Since the Constitutional Court ruled that the 4:1 population ratio (population deviation of ±50%) between the most and least populous electoral districts undermines the equality of votes and should be adjusted to 3:1, it is expected that the election law revision will be pursued in a direction that improves this potential unconstitutionality.

Spokesperson Oh explained, "Our party will discuss and decide on additional measures that can be pursued. The final wrap-up is expected to be completed today or tomorrow so that the Public Official Election Act can pass at the plenary session on the 15th, allowing the local elections to proceed normally."

Earlier that day, during a meeting of floor leaders chaired by National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seok, the parties considered a plan to pilot the multi-member district system for basic councilors in some regions but failed to find common ground.

Accordingly, the delineation of electoral districts for the June 1 local elections is expected to proceed without introducing the multi-member district system for basic councilors.

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