LKP rejects electoral reform proposal

Liberty Korea Party (LKP) Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn, third from right, LKP floor leader Rep. Na Kyung-won, third from left, and LKP members hold placards to protest putting bills ― including the electoral reform proposal agreed by four other political parties ― on the fast track, at the National Assembly, Monday. / Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-han

By Park Ji-won

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) vowed an all-out struggle against the other parties, Monday, to block their attempt to redraw electoral precincts and increase the number of proportional representatives.

The response came after the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and three other parties announced a draft proposal for electoral reform following months of negotiations, which the LKP had boycotted. They agreed to fast-track a reform bill to ensure that the next general elections slated for April 2020 will take place under the new rules.

Senior LKP members criticized the DPK and other minor parties' move to fast-track the reform bill, calling it a “coup” in legislation to extend the current “left-leaning” regime.

“This administration's push to pass the bills of revising the electoral system, establishing new bodies to investigate high-ranking officials and reducing the investigative powers of the prosecution and giving more investigative rights to the police is a legislative coup d'etat aiming to prolong the life of the left-leaning dictatorship regime,” newly elected LKP Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn said during a party meeting Monday.

The party believes they need to spare no effort to deter the other parties from pushing the electoral reform bill through.

Rep. Na Kyung-won, floor leader of the LKP, also joined in the criticism. “It is the reform's proposal to give the Justice Party negotiating bloc status. It is a long-term plan for the leftists to break the balance between liberal democratic forces and anti-liberal democratic forces,” she said.

Na called the plan unconstitutional. She earlier hinted at the possibility of all LKP members giving up their seats in protest of the bill.

The conservative party's move came after the DPK, minor Bareunmirae Party, Party for Democracy and Peace (PDP) and Justice Party came up with a tentative proposal on electoral reform Sunday to fast-track the bill. The bill is designed to add the number of proportional representatives to 75 from 47 while reducing the number of district Assembly seats from 253 to 225 and lower the voting age to 18 from 19.

The four parties rushed to come up with the bill as the National Assembly should finalize the electoral precincts at least a year before the 2020 general elections. The Assembly can designate a proposal that fails to gain bipartisan support as a fast-track bill if three-fifths of lawmakers approve it. This is aimed at preventing bills from pending in the Assembly for lengthy periods.

Once a bill is put on the fast track, it can be put to a vote automatically at a plenary session without the need for approval from a committee within a maximum of 330 days.

So far, minor parties have pushed for passing the electoral reform bill as it is considered better for them to grab more Assembly seats compared to the present electoral system which is more advantageous for bigger parties.

The four didn't discuss the bills on establishing an investigative body to investigate high-ranking officials and the adjustment of investigative powers between prosecutors and police.

Adding to the LKP's deterrent, political parties are expected to face a bumpy road ahead until those bills reach settlement as some minor parties didn't have full-support from their members over its direction.

Rep. Oh Shin-hwan of the Bareunmirae Party said during a radio interview Monday that there are some lawmakers in the party who said they would leave the party if the electoral reform bill is fast-tracked.

Rep. Yu Sung-yop, a member of the PDP's Supreme Council, openly opposed the electoral bill during a party meeting Monday, saying “It is better not to agree on the electoral bill if it doesn't represent each region.”

Rep. Kim Kyung-jin of the PDP, a former prosecutor, said during a radio interview that “It is inappropriate to fast-track the bills on investigating high-ranking officials and readjusting the investigative powers between the prosecution and the police together with electoral reform.”