Civic groups argue grassroots democracy will shrivel up

By Kim Rahn

The government is attempting to retreat to the previous system of appointing chiefs of districts or “gu” of major cities, while abolishing district councils.

The move is strongly opposed by municipalities and civic groups, arguing that it will erode grass-roots democracy.

The Presidential Committee on Local Administration Reform finalized a recommendation for the change, Friday.

Under the revisions, heads of 49 districts in six major cities ― Busan, Daejeon, Daegu, Gwangju, Ulsan and Incheon ― will be picked by the central government.

Seoul is not included because of its “special administrative” status.

But the 25 “gu” councils of Seoul are to be abolished while 49 others face the same fate.

The measure follows reports about the side effects of the popularly-elected local autonomy system.

“As each district collects and spends taxes independently, the financial disparity between ‘affluent districts’ and ‘poor districts’ is widening. When a city government promotes a project covering the entire city, there have been many cases where district chiefs who were affiliated with opposition political parties were engaged in partisan struggles against the major, foiling his or her policies and projects,” a member of the committee said.

He also mentioned district councils are not cost-efficient when comparing administrative expenses and council members’ salary with their outcomes. In a survey of 1,000 citizens conducted in April last year by the Korea Research Institute for Local Administration, 44.7 percent of the respondents said the councils hardly represented residents’ opinions.

Park Seung-ju, president of Gwangju Development Institute who took part in the presidential committee, said, “Through the measures, not district councils but city councils will be able to check district offices. We believe such a system can have city affairs and district affairs connected smoothly.”

“It doesn’t mean weakening of a municipality but revamping district offices’ function,” he said.

The committee aims to adopt the new system for the 2014 local elections. It will report the measures to the President and National Assembly speaker by June 30. The Assembly will then discuss them and revise the related laws.

It also plans to have 10 districts, which have a small population or are small in size, merge with neighboring districts. Jongno-gu and Jung-gu in Seoul fall under this scheme.

The revision plan is facing a rocky road ahead. Municipal heads, district council members and civic groups strongly oppose the plan, claiming it will disrupt the basis of municipality and grass-roots democracy.

Also, the abolishment of district councils had already been discussed at the National Assembly but discarded due to opposition from some lawmakers who needed support from district council members.

Gwangju Mayor Kang Un-tae said Monday, “The government’s appointment of district heads is retrogression of local autonomy. The committee’s decision-making also had procedural flaws, as it has never collected opinions from metropolitan city mayors, city councils and district chiefs ― the parties concerned.”

Kang said complementary measures should have been made first, such as strengthening the role of city councils which will replace district councils, claiming the new system has been promoted without such steps.

The National Association of Mayors, comprised of mayors, county heads and district chiefs, and an association of Seoul’s district council chairmen said they would hold meetings and come up with countermeasures.

The Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice said in a statement that the measures are an anti-democratic idea that damages the principle of local autonomy.

“Government-appointed district heads will be subordinates that just follow the central government’s orders and will not play any roles for residents. Such a move is a plot to jeopardize grass-roots democracy,” the civic group said.