Park Soo-young "Opposes All Three Proposals of the Political Reform Special Committee"

Park Soo-young, a member of the People Power Party and the designated head of the Yeouido Institute, the party's think tank, announced that he opposes all three election system reform proposals prepared by the National Assembly's Special Committee on Political Reform.

On the 20th, Park stated through his social media (SNS), "To get straight to the point, all three proposals are significantly lacking."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The three proposals Park referred to are the election system reform plans that the Special Committee on Political Reform decided to submit to the plenary committee on the 17th. Proposal 1 is a single-member district system combined with a regional parallel proportional representation system; Proposal 2 is a single-member district system combined with a regional semi-linked proportional representation system, which increases the number of proportional representation members by 50. Proposal 3 is a mixed urban-rural large multi-member district system combined with a regional parallel proportional representation system, which maintains the total number of members but reduces the number of district members and increases the number of proportional representation members, resulting in larger electoral districts.

Park said, "(Proposals 1 and 2) both increase the number of members by 50, but I oppose increasing the number of National Assembly members. Whether in politics or government, when the size grows, it restricts the market, which is the reality in our country," adding, "In bills submitted to the plenary session, whether politicians or public officials, I have mostly voted against increasing their numbers."

Regarding Proposal 3, he also pointed out, "The public already finds it difficult to see their National Assembly members except during election times, so reducing the number of district members is unacceptable," and "The large multi-member district system significantly increases election costs, making it difficult for candidates without money to even run." The large multi-member district system merges several electoral districts; for example, if a member representing only Nam-gu Gap is merged with Nam-gu Eul, the cost doubles for banners and text messages, which is Park's concern.

He added, "We need to deeply consider why the United States and the United Kingdom have maintained the single-member district system for hundreds of years," and said, "It would be better if the ruling and opposition parties could first agree on standards such as the number of members and the abolition of parliamentary immunity, rather than on specific election systems."