By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
Grand National Party (GNP) leaders Thursday made clear their opposition of a plan to increase the number of lawmakers proposed by an ad hoc committee to rearrange the boundaries of parliamentary districts for the April elections.
Members of the bipartisan district rearrangement committee Wednesday agreed to increase the number of lawmakers up to 303 from the current 299, including 56 picked under the proportional representation system.
According to the proposed plan, the number of lawmakers chosen under the proportional representation system will remain the same.
The proposal said only the number of electoral districts will increase from the current 243 up to 247.
The committee said the proposal will be sent to another bipartisan committee, which deals with political reform, Friday, and members of the panel will make a final decision after inter-party negotiations.
Once these lawmakers reach an agreement, a bill on the boundaries of parliamentary districts must be revised.
The district rearrangement committee is an advisory body to National Assembly Speaker Lim Chae-jung.
Heated discussion is expected in the following negotiations as major parties have been divided regarding the controversial issue.
The pro-government United New Democratic Party (UNDP), which holds 135 parliamentary seats, supports the plan, while the main opposition GNP with 130 opposes it.
``The GNP has not considered increasing the number of lawmakers,'' said floor leader Ahn Sang-soo.
Ahn continued, ``Therefore, we will stick to this stance in the upcoming negotiations.''
According to political observers, the possible backlash against the plan has prevented the GNP from considering the increase.
They said lawmakers would face criticism as the party is seeking to downsize the government, yet lawmakers of the party are trying to increase the number of parliamentary seats, which is self-serving.
Rep. Chung Mong-joon of the GNP said it is nonsensical to seek an increase, as there is a shared view that small government is the right way to go.
``I think we lawmakers need to think hard about this issue before reaching an agreement,'' Chung said.
As for the rearrangement of parliamentary districts, the Constitutional Court ruled in 2001 that the population of each district should not be more or less than 50 percent of average population of the entire district.
The rules set by the district rearrangement committee said the population ratio between the largest and smallest district should not be more than 3 to 1.