Parties seek new strategies for election after revisions

Lawmakers of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) walk out of the National Assembly's plenary session en mass after an electoral reform bill to expand the Assembly seats for proportional representation was passed, Dec. 27. Yonhap

By Jung Da-min

After numerous rounds of negotiations and debates over the past years, the National Assembly has adopted a new electoral system that will be applied in the upcoming general elections in April.

The National Assembly passed an electoral reform bill Dec. 27 that has been pushed ahead by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and four other minor parties since they placed it on a legislative fast track in late April. The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) has strongly protested the reform, staging filibusters.

The new electoral system seeks an expansion of proportional representation to make the National Assembly more reflective of the electorate. Under the new system, two ballots are conducted for the 300 National Assembly seats, with one for 253 single-member districts on a first-past-the-post basis and the other for the remaining 47 seats through a national-level vote for a party.

Although the 15.6 percent of seats decided by proportional representation has not been changed from the previous mixed-member proportional (MMP) system, the new MMP system applies a different calculation for 30 out of the 47 seats. It calculates the number of seats allocated to each party reflecting their approval ratings to the whole 300 seats, while the previous system applied the approval ratings only within the limit of 47 seats for the proportional representation.

The new system places the cap for the number of proportional representation seats allocated according to the new calculation at 30, while the remaining 17 seats will be distributed based on the previous calculation.

In short, the previous MMP system consists of two “parallel” ballots while the new system is rather “interlocking” as it calculates the seats according to the proportional representation ratios for the total 300 seats that also include the 253 seats for single-member districts.

While the revisions are welcomed by minor parties as they would receive more seats for the proportional representation, the LKP warned that it would launch a satellite party to garner more proportional representation seats in the upcoming elections. The minimum threshold of garnering at least 3 percent of the total vote for a party to secure proportional representation seats will be maintained.

Concerns were also raised that the ruling DPK might also want to launch a satellite but political watchers said it remains to be seen as the DPK would not want to ruin its solidarity with other minor parties, with the Justice Party in particular, as the two parties have cooperated in previous elections.

Such cooperation among parties would be more important as more new parties are likely to be launched under the new system that allows more seats for small parties through proportional representation.

It is also likely that a multiparty scheme will appear in the National Assembly with no party holding a strong majority, according to calculations based on parties' approval ratings.

Parties are also urged to set new strategies to target young voters, as the electoral revision also encompasses lowering the legal voting age from 19 to 18, the OECD standard.

Meanwhile, political spats over reform bills are likely to continue as the LKP is planning to file a constitutional appeal over the electoral reform bill, saying interlocking the proportional representation with the seats for single-member districts is in violation of the principle of direct elections.

At a Dec. 27 Assembly plenary session, 156 lawmakers voted for the bill, out of 167 who participated in the vote. Ten lawmakers voted against it and one abstained.

Supporters of the electoral reform say the new system prevents “dead votes” in elections while those against it say it could bring political chaos by flooding the National Assembly with minor parties.

The main opposition party is also at odds over establishing a special investigative body against corruption of high-ranking officials and their family members. The judiciary reform bill was also passed at a separate plenary session Dec. 30. It had been on a legislative fast track since April along with the electoral reform bill.

The issue is also at the center of President Moon Jae-in's reform policies against the prosecution. The special investigative body, if set up, will directly investigate and prosecute the President, lawmakers, the chief justice and other justices of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court.

Other high-ranking officials including the prime minister and officials at the Prime Minister's Office, officials at the National Election Commission, prosecutors and judges and high-ranking police officers are also subject to its investigative powers.

The right of accusation and sustainment of a public prosecution, currently an exclusive authority of the prosecution, will also be partially distributed to the special investigative body.