Ruling party adopts political reform bill seeking multiparty coalition

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

National

Wed, November 29, 2023 | 05:10

Election 2022

Ruling party adopts political reform bill seeking multiparty coalition

Posted : 2022-02-28 17:09

Updated : 2022-02-28 18:26

Ruling liberal Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Rep. Song-young-gil, right, and floor leader Rep. Yoon Ho-jung talk to each other during a general meeting of party lawmakers for the possible adoption of a political reform bill seeking a multi-party coalition system, at the National Assembly on Seoul's Yeouido, Sunday. Joint Press Corps

DPK woos minor parties for coalition ahead of presidential election

By Jung Da-min

With the March 9 presidential election just around the corner, the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has adopted a comprehensive political reform bill aimed at better distributing power among different parties, in a bid to woo minor parties.

On Sunday, lawmakers of the DPK held a general meeting at the National Assembly to officially adopt the political reform bill seeking to transform the Assembly which is currently dominated by the two major parties into one where power is shared more equally among several different parties.

The DPK lawmakers' adoption of the political reform bill came on the same day negotiations between the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) and the minor opposition People's Party to field a unified conservative candidate failed.

Political watchers say the DPK's move aims to appeal to minor parties including the People's Party, the progressive Justice Party and New Wave, the former Deputy Prime Minister Kim Dong-yeon's new political party.

"The DPK will first reflect our past faults of creating 'winner-take-all' politics, which has made election reform disappear as a result of the creation of satellite parties; 'nae-ro-nam-bul' politics, which has created more generous standards only for those on the same side; and the 'destructive confrontational politics,' which is far from the reality of people's lives," read a resolution by the DPK lawmakers. "Naeronambul" is a Korean term for double standards, constructed as an abbreviation of 'romance if I do it, scandal if others do it.'

"Now is the best time and opportunity for political reform," the resolution read.

The DPK lawmakers' adoption of the political reform bill came days after DPK presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung announced his election pledge for such a political reform during a press conference in Seoul's Myeong-dong area, Feb. 14.

Last Thursday, DPK Chairman Rep. Song Young-gil also held a press conference to announce the party's plan for the creation of a multi-party government representation system.

After the party's adoption of the bill, Lee posted on Facebook: "During Friday's presidential debate, several candidates pointed out that the DPK lacks the will to carry out political reform. I also sympathized with such criticism and requested the party to take urgent action. As a result, the political reform bill was adopted at the National Assembly two days later."

Major candidates running for the March 9 presidential election pose before their fourth TV debate at broadcaster SBS' studio in Sangam-dong in Seoul's Mapo District, Friday. From left, Justice Party presidential candidate Sim Sang-jung, People's Party candidate Ahn Cheol-soo, People Power Party candidate Yoon Suk-yeol and Democratic Party of Korea candidate Lee Jae-myung. Joint Press Corps

The content of the reform bill includes the introduction of a run-off election or final vote in the presidential election and cutting the presidential term from five to four years while allowing incumbent presidents to seek reelection once.

To give more power to the National Assembly and to form a national unity government, the bill seeks to give the Assembly the right to recommend the country's prime minister, which currently is at the president's discretion; create multi-party policy coordination committee while allowing different parties to work together to establish basic plans for state affairs; and form a bipartisan national security committee.

The bill also seeks to reform the electoral system to expand proportional representation in the National Assembly and ban the creation of satellite parties, a tactic that major parties have used to get more proportional seats.

However, other parties are casting doubt over the DPK's sincerity, saying the ruling party could have carried out such reforms earlier with their supermajority at the National Assembly.

"This ambiguous announcement (by the DPK) without a specific roadmap for political reform is not enough to dispel the doubts of the people who have been watching whether the ruling party would carry out sincere political reforms, such as an apology for their establishment of a satellite party and introduction of the presidential run-off," Justice Party floor leader Rep. Bae Jin-gyo said, Sunday.

"Rather than delaying it for later, the political reform bill already proposed by the Justice Party should be discussed through the convening of a special committee for political reform right now."

damin.jung@koreatimes.co.kr