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| Citizens listen to a filibuster speech by a lawmaker of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea, aimed at stalling a vote on an anti-terrorism bill, at the National Assembly in Seoul, Sunday. / Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-han |
By Kim Hyo-jin
The electoral map for the April 13 general election was finalized Sunday, just 45 days before voters go to the polls.
The electoral redistricting committee, a sub-committee of the National Election Commission (NEC), delivered the final draft that set the constituency boundaries for the upcoming election to the National Assembly. The leaders of the rival parties agreed last week to pass the bill today.
Completion of the process drew additional attention because it could lead to bipartisan negotiations on the contentious anti-terrorist bill, and possibly ending the opposition's marathon filibuster.
"Just about 40 days ahead of the polls, it was difficult not to consider the confusion drastic changes in constituency boundaries could cause among candidates and voters," a committee official said. "With little given time, we could hardly touch upon the existing constituencies that were unreasonably divided."
The committee said that 16 constituencies were divided and nine merged into other electoral districts.
On the new electoral boundaries map, Seoul has gained one more parliamentary seat and the increasingly populous Gyeonggi Province has eight more lots. Incheon and two other regional cities each have one additional seat.
The number of electoral constituencies will increase from 246 to 253, while the number of lawmakers selected through proportional representation will be decreased from 54 to 47 in order to maintain the 300-seat National Assembly.
The number of constituencies has also grown by one in Incheon, Daejeon and South Chungcheong Province; while Gangwon and North and South Jeolla provinces have lost one seat each, and North Gyeongsang Province two seats.
The final draft was submitted days after the leaders of the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) agreed on rules to redistrict the electoral map on Tuesday.
Although the party leaders agreed to pass the election bill, today, it remains to be seen if parliament will do so as pledged because the ongoing filibuster by the opposition side to block a vote on an anti-terrorism bill has to stop in order for the bill to be endorsed.
The MPK appears to face a dilemma because it is under pressure to seek an exit strategy from the filibuster it is continuing, but this would be difficult to stop without winning a trade-off.
"We can't just cooperate on endorsing the bill while no change is made on the poisonous clauses in the anti-terrorism bill," Rep. Rhee Mok-hee, the party's chief policymaker, said during a press conference Sunday.
The MPK urged the Saenuri Party to come to the negotiation table, issuing an ultimatum.
It requested making the National Assembly Intelligence Committee a standing committee in charge of the government's counterterrorist measures; strengthening requirements for the National Intelligence Service (NIS) to access private communications of citizens by putting the phrase "when national security is at significant risk"; and giving the NIS's right to track down and investigate potential terrorists to an envisioned anti-terrorist control tower.
"This is our final proposal. If the Saenuri Party opens negotiations on these three points with us, we'll also take a flexible stance in the talks," Rhee said.
However, the Saenuri Party again adopted a firm stance, saying that there will be no further negotiations on the bill's content.
The MPK, along with the minor opposition Justice Party and the People's Party began a series of filibuster speeches on Tuesday to protest the speaker's move to put the anti-terrorism bill for a vote, expressing concerns about the expanded authority given to the spy agency.
The tactic has continued for six consecutive days as of Sunday. The MPK's Jung Cheong-rae, who delivered a speech of 11 hours and 39 minutes, set a record Saturday for the longest speech in Korean history delivered by a lawmaker.
