Does Restraining Recall Vote Hurt Democracy?
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
The governing Grand National Party (GNP) plans to submit an amendment bill calling to restrain voters from recalling local government and parliamentary representatives.
National Assembly Speaker Kim Hyong-o agreed on the need to revise the law, expressing worries that abuse of the action leads to costs, noting that Jeju Governor Kim Tae-hwan was suspended from duty for three weeks before the vote.
Opposition parties and some political scientists, however, say restraining the recall vote could undermine the principles of democracy, participation and accountability.
The GNP wants to change the law to limit the use of the action to times when those in public office are involved in professional misconduct, corruption or violate the law, GNP floor leader Rep. Ahn Sang-soo said in a meeting of the party's decision-making Supreme Council.
The move came in the wake of the failed attempt to expel Kim from public service by 35 civic groups after voter turnout failed to meet the quorum.
Kim was under attack from opponents who were discontent about plans to accommodate a naval base on the southern resort island, which he signed in April.
Their attempt to remove the governor from office went in vain as only 11 percent of eligible voters turned out, failing to meet one third of eligible residents or more.
The current law stipulated that governors and mayors must end their service prior to the normal expiration of their terms of office when 10 percent of voters or more in the region call for a recall and one-third of eligible residents vote for it.
Mayors of small cities and members of city councils are also subject to action.
Since 2007, there have been 17 failed attempts to recall governors and mayors. The Jeju case was only the second time a recall has gone to a vote _ the last coming in December 2007 when Hanam City Mayor Kim Hwang-sik clashed with residents over his plan to construct a large crematorium in the city. That vote also failed as the turnout was lower than one-third of eligible residents.
Ahn called the current law ``seriously flawed'' because it didn't stipulate the grounds that voters need to meet when seeking a recall vote.
He said the 10 percent requirement of eligible voters singing up to the campaign is also too low.
Several senior ruling party lawmakers and Speaker Kim shared the view that the procedural flaw led to political costs.
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP), meanwhile, opposed the GNP's plan to restrain recall elections, claiming not only corrupt representatives but also incompetent ones should be subject to recalling as the current law says.
DP Spokesman Noh Young-min said his party supported the Constitutional Court's ruling that there is no problem with the current law that has not stipulated the grounds that voters need to meet when seeking a recall vote.
Political scientist Kim Hyong-joon told The Korea Times that any lawmaker efforts to restrain people in the exercise of a recall through legislation could disrupt the core principles of democracy.
``It is true that such a voting comes at a price as it requires representatives in question to be suspended from duty and there are other costs needed to make the initiative work. But this is the price that we need to pay to sustain democracy,'' Kim said.
He called on legislators to carefully design the revision bill to make sure that the new measures do not impede democracy.