By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
Narrow partisan interests have derailed the right of citizens overseas to vote, said Rep. Kim Gi-Hyeon of the largest opposition Grand National Party (GNP).
During the 268th National Assembly session that ended Wednesday, the pro-government Uri Party and the GNP failed to reach an agreement on revisions of election-related laws to empower citizens living in foreign countries to cast ballots in elections.
The bill has been tossed into the next Assembly session and as a result, Korean resident overseas will not be entitled to cast their ballots in the Dec. 19 presidential election.
``Embracing all overseas Koreans in the election system is as simple as putting one additional spoon on a dining table,'' the lawmaker said in an interview with The Korea Times, Tuesday.
Kim, 48, is one of the architects of the GNP's bill on overseas absentee ballots and has raised his voice for early revision of the election-related laws.
The Constitutional Court ruled last Thursday that the current legislation preventing foreign residents from the right to exercise their vote goes against the Constitution. A debate as to which overseas Koreans should be entitled to the right is underway.
While the GNP supports all citizens in the right to vote in elections, the Uri Party reiterated suffrage should be given only to short-term residents abroad currently and be expanded to all others one step at a time.
A former judge, Kim singled out several compelling points. ``First and foremost, Korean citizens are entitled to have the right to vote and this principle is one of the key guiding lights of the Constitution. Second, there are no rules or legal systems at the moment that can distinguish short-term from long-term residents abroad.''
It is partisan interests that have caused Uri Party lawmakers to curb seeking the empowerment of all overseas residents to participate in elections, he said.
The Uri Party is slow in accepting the integration of all residents living in foreign countries, as permanent residents overseas tend to show conservative voting behavior.
Kim urged the Uri Party to stop calculating benefits and losses of the introduction of overseas absentee ballots.
Under the proposed bill, an estimated 2.1 million more Koreans would be allowed to vote in elections through overseas absentee ballots.
Asked if he foresees the integration of additional constituents into the election system giving the GNP an edge in elections, the lawmaker replied, ``As there are no surveys and research projecting the effects, I have no idea if the GNP can benefit from the revision. The reason I am proactive for this bill is that setting up stumbling blocks against the integration of Koreans overseas simply goes against the philosophy of the Constitution.''