Ahn Cheol-soo, Released from Self-Quarantine, Proposes Extending Voting Days to Respond to COVID-19

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, proposed extending the voting days in response to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) situation.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

After completing a two-week self-quarantine following medical volunteer activities in Daegu, Ahn held his first press conference upon returning to the National Assembly on the 29th, stating, “We need to consider increasing the early voting period from two days to five days and extending the single voting day to three days to encourage dispersed voting.”

He said, “There are many considerations, such as how to maintain distance between voters when they line up intensively at the same time and how to prevent the next person from using the voting tools of the previous person in a confined voting booth,” adding, “If not handled properly, it could lead to many voters giving up voting, so the government must find a solution.”

Furthermore, considering the difficulties in election campaigning due to COVID-19, Ahn proposed a ‘relay TV debate’ involving all parties in the National Assembly. He said, “It is difficult to campaign smoothly due to COVID-19, which is an absolutely advantageous situation for the established parties. We will hold relay TV debates to guarantee the public’s right to know. I hope the established parties will confidently participate in this.”

On the same day, Ahn also identified ‘constitutional amendment’ as the first task to be pursued after the 21st National Assembly convenes. He proposed, “Once the 21st National Assembly opens, I suggest forming a special committee on constitutional amendment and starting the amendment process,” emphasizing, “We must amend the constitution to clearly define the responsibilities of the state and the powers.” In addition, Ahn suggested measures such as ▲ forming a special committee on political culture improvement ▲ forming a special committee on future strategy ▲ regular meetings of party leaders ▲ and a three-day listening session in the National Assembly inviting representatives of the people.

Meanwhile, regarding the People’s Party being assigned number 10 in the party vote, he said, “It was a number we had been eagerly waiting for. Just as there is no tree that won’t fall if you hit it ten times, if you vote for number 10, you can change our politics. We will approach the election with the determination to score 10 out of 10.”