Lee Jung-mi "Reducing the Number of National Assembly Members... Shooting Oneself in the Foot"

Lee Jeong-mi, leader of the Justice Party, criticized the claim of "reducing the number of National Assembly members," which is mainly mentioned by the ruling party, as "spitting while lying down and denying one's own existence."

On the 12th, Lee said on MBC's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' that "I hope people take some time to deeply think about the fundamental reason why we are trying to reform the electoral system now."

Lee Jung-mi, leader of the Justice Party, is giving a greeting speech at the Rights Finding Union meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 27th. The Rights Finding Union is a labor union for freelancers, special employment, platform workers, and workers at businesses with fewer than five employees who are in the blind spots of the Labor Standards Act. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

원본보기 아이콘

The National Assembly is holding a 'plenary committee' meeting with all members participating for the first time in 20 years to have an in-depth discussion on electoral reform, but some are advocating for reducing the number of members and proportional representatives. Regarding this, Lee said, "The proportional representation system is a mechanism that can sufficiently guarantee representativeness to the people," adding, "Those who say we should reduce the number of members or abolish proportional representation really seem like they are spitting while lying down in front of the people."

She continued, "Some who argue to reduce proportional representation talk about its uselessness, but those who are currently going to prison or losing their seats due to various corruption charges in the National Assembly are not proportional representatives but those who were active in constituencies," and emphasized, "Because of proportional representation, the percentage of female lawmakers in the National Assembly, which was only 3-4%, has been raised to the 10% range."

Regarding how to operate the proportional representation system, opinions among lawmakers are divided between regional proportional representation and parallel proportional representation. Lee said, "It is better to base it on the principle of proportionality, which allocates seats according to the votes cast, whether it is regional or the current party list system," adding, "Currently, there are attempts within the National Assembly to undermine proportionality itself, regardless of whether it is regional or national lists, and we oppose that."

She said, "No matter what, we have been advocating to create a National Assembly that gives a party with 10% of the votes 10% of the speaking rights, reflecting the public will. We have barely taken a step forward with a semi-proportional system, which is not even a full proportional system, and to go back to a parallel system now is a step backward."

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.