ED An unrepentant NEC
An unrepentant National Election Commission (NEC) is drawing the ire of lawmakers. While officials offered apologies, their actions suggested a lack of remorse.
On Tuesday, all nine NEC commissioners were asked to appear and testify before the National Assembly, but only two showed up. Some lawmakers described their absence as a collective act of defiance, calling it unacceptable, although five more belatedly appeared.
The election commission has become a public target since the June 3 local elections. It damaged its credibility, leaving people seeing it as unreliable and untrustworthy. The NEC appears to be well aware of the public anger directed at it. Yet it is still struggling to understand what went wrong and whether it is capable of fixing its problems on its own.
We Chul-whan, NEC standing commissioner, admitted that the election commission had failed to inspire public confidence and had shown itself to lack competence. However, he also shifted the blame. His criticism was directed at staff members responsible for day-to-day operations rather than at the NEC leadership. He rejected calls for his resignation, arguing that stepping down at this time would be irresponsible.
NEC officials were grilled during a National Assembly probe into the shortage of ballot papers, a nationwide problem that prompted tens of thousands of people to gather daily in protest at Olympic Park in southern Seoul to demand reform at the election commission.
Lawmakers condemned the ballot shortage as a human-made disaster that could have been prevented had the NEC prepared adequately. Former NEC Chairperson Rho Tae-ak, who resigned immediately after the local elections, faced a barrage of criticism from lawmakers over what they described as ethical lapses and a lack of oversight during his tenure.
This time, there was little partisan division. Both the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) criticized the election watchdog for its mishandling of the elections.
Rep. Kim Yong-man of the DPK blasted the election commission for printing ballots equivalent to only 50 percent of eligible voters, 10 percentage points lower than in previous elections. “In Songpa District, for example, early voting turnout was lower than the national average. As an election official, you could have anticipated that more people would vote on Election Day and prepared more ballots than in previous elections,” he said. “Instead, you did the opposite. Was that the right decision?”
A grim-faced Roh offered no answer.
Rep. Joo Jin-woo of the PPP confronted Roh over the NEC’s extensive use of private contracts instead of competitive bidding. According to the lawmaker, about 90 percent of the contracts signed by the NEC were awarded through private arrangements rather than open competition. “In public service, government agencies are generally encouraged to sign private contracts only when projects are worth 20 million won ($13,000) or less. But that was not the case at the NEC. I found that the election commission signed a private contract for a project worth 108 million won,” he said.
Joo asked Rho whether he was aware of the widespread use of private contracts within the NEC and, if so, what action he had taken. Roh replied that he was unaware of the practice and apologized for failing to pay closer attention to the details.
Rho’s explanation cannot be justified. Under the current system, the NEC chairperson is selected from among Supreme Court justices and oversees the election commission while continuing to serve on the bench. This part-time arrangement requires the chairperson to juggle two demanding roles. Even so, the NEC chief should devote sufficient attention to the commission’s affairs.
Rho also faced questions about ethics following media reports that his wife, a private citizen, accompanied him on business class trips to Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Roh said the NEC had paid his wife to join the trips and argued that the arrangement complied with regulations granting such privileges to the nation’s five highest-ranking officials: the president, prime minister, National Assembly speaker, chief justice and NEC chairperson. Nevertheless, his wife’s participation in overseas trips funded by taxpayers stirred public controversy.
President Lee Jae Myung has ordered a thorough investigation into the election commission, covering not only the ballot shortage but also any possible misconduct, corruption or other irregularities. The investigation should be conducted swiftly, with the results released without delay. But the efforts cannot end there. Drastic reforms are necessary in order to reinstate public trust and confidence in the commission.