By Kim Hyo-jin
Rival political parties are discussing whether or not to increase the number of seats in the National Assembly to break a deadlock in their talks on redrawing constituencies for next year's general election, party officials said Thursday.
The parties remain cautious about disclosing details of their discussions on increasing the seats due to negative public opinion on the issue. However, the idea is being carefully reviewed in the ongoing inter-party talks, said the officials.
One option is to increase the number of electoral districts by three while retaining the number of representatives selected under proportional representation, sources said.
If this is adopted, the current 300-seat unicameral legislature will be enlarged to a 303-seat one from the 20th National Assembly, which will be established through the general election in April 2016.
"Due to the controversy over merging or scrapping the rural districts, we are inevitably considering increasing the number of electoral seats by a small margin," said Rep. Choi Jae-cheon, head of the NPAD's policy committee. "The ruling party is also thinking about this option."
A lawmaker of the Saenuri Party who is a member of the National Assembly's special committee for political reform, also said, "A consensus on a possible expansion of the Assembly is spreading within the party."
The ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) held high-level talks for a third consecutive day, but failed to narrow their differences on how to redraw the electoral map, Thursday.
The rival parties have locked horns over whether to reduce the number of proportional representatives.
The Saenuri Party has argued that the number of electoral seats be raised to a maximum of 260 from the current 246 while lowering the number of non-electoral seats to maintain the 300-seat legislature.
Meanwhile, NPAD is strongly opposed to reducing the number of seats for those elected by proportional representation, saying that this system could ease regionalism.
However, the party hinted at the possibility of compromising on reducing non-electoral seats if the Saenuri Party agrees to introduce the new proportional representation system based on regional votes.
The proposed scheme would divide the nation into five or six regions and reflect the amount of votes cast for candidates in each region according to the party's share of votes. It is likely to make room for the minor opposition party to secure proportional representation seats.
Worrying about the possibility of alliances forming among the opposition parties, the Saenuri Party has expressed strong opposition to the NPAD's proposal.
In a recent poll conducted by Realmeter in late July, 500 respondents were asked if they agree with increasing the number of lawmakers while halving their pay. The results showed that 57.6 percent are opposed to the idea, while 27.3 percent are in favor of the proposal.
Saenuri Party Chairman Rep. Kim Moo-sung denied Thursday that expanding the Assembly is a likely option, saying, "It is just one of many alternatives."
Amid ongoing disagreements, the rival parties are expected to trade barbs over the issue of redrawing constituencies until the very last minute, as they did in previous elections. In 2008 and 2012, the National Assembly redrew the electoral map less than two months ahead of the elections.
Last year, the Constitutional Court ruled that electoral boundaries should be redrawn to address unequal representation and the ratio of the most populous electoral districts to the least populous must be lower than two to one. The ratio is currently three to one.
Based on this ruling, an independent electoral redistricting committee under the National Election Commission has proposed to redraw the current electoral map by reducing parliamentary seats in less-populous regions.
It drew a fierce backlash from representatives of rural areas in North Gyeongsang Province and other remote areas in southern parts of the country.
Rival political parties are discussing whether or not to increase the number of seats in the National Assembly to break a deadlock in their talks on redrawing constituencies for next year's general election, party officials said Thursday.
The parties remain cautious about disclosing details of their discussions on increasing the seats due to negative public opinion on the issue. However, the idea is being carefully reviewed in the ongoing inter-party talks, said the officials.
One option is to increase the number of electoral districts by three while retaining the number of representatives selected under proportional representation, sources said.
If this is adopted, the current 300-seat unicameral legislature will be enlarged to a 303-seat one from the 20th National Assembly, which will be established through the general election in April 2016.
"Due to the controversy over merging or scrapping the rural districts, we are inevitably considering increasing the number of electoral seats by a small margin," said Rep. Choi Jae-cheon, head of the NPAD's policy committee. "The ruling party is also thinking about this option."
A lawmaker of the Saenuri Party who is a member of the National Assembly's special committee for political reform, also said, "A consensus on a possible expansion of the Assembly is spreading within the party."
The ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) held high-level talks for a third consecutive day, but failed to narrow their differences on how to redraw the electoral map, Thursday.
The rival parties have locked horns over whether to reduce the number of proportional representatives.
The Saenuri Party has argued that the number of electoral seats be raised to a maximum of 260 from the current 246 while lowering the number of non-electoral seats to maintain the 300-seat legislature.
Meanwhile, NPAD is strongly opposed to reducing the number of seats for those elected by proportional representation, saying that this system could ease regionalism.
However, the party hinted at the possibility of compromising on reducing non-electoral seats if the Saenuri Party agrees to introduce the new proportional representation system based on regional votes.
The proposed scheme would divide the nation into five or six regions and reflect the amount of votes cast for candidates in each region according to the party's share of votes. It is likely to make room for the minor opposition party to secure proportional representation seats.
Worrying about the possibility of alliances forming among the opposition parties, the Saenuri Party has expressed strong opposition to the NPAD's proposal.
In a recent poll conducted by Realmeter in late July, 500 respondents were asked if they agree with increasing the number of lawmakers while halving their pay. The results showed that 57.6 percent are opposed to the idea, while 27.3 percent are in favor of the proposal.
Saenuri Party Chairman Rep. Kim Moo-sung denied Thursday that expanding the Assembly is a likely option, saying, "It is just one of many alternatives."
Amid ongoing disagreements, the rival parties are expected to trade barbs over the issue of redrawing constituencies until the very last minute, as they did in previous elections. In 2008 and 2012, the National Assembly redrew the electoral map less than two months ahead of the elections.
Last year, the Constitutional Court ruled that electoral boundaries should be redrawn to address unequal representation and the ratio of the most populous electoral districts to the least populous must be lower than two to one. The ratio is currently three to one.
Based on this ruling, an independent electoral redistricting committee under the National Election Commission has proposed to redraw the current electoral map by reducing parliamentary seats in less-populous regions.
It drew a fierce backlash from representatives of rural areas in North Gyeongsang Province and other remote areas in southern parts of the country.
