Ahn Cheol-soo: "Election System Committee Without Support... Debate Method Must Change"

Agenda must be set and voted through consultation between secretaries; party consultations needed to supplement for concrete reform proposals

On the 12th, Ahn Cheol-soo, a member of the People Power Party, proposed changing the discussion method to allow for debates on specific reform plans related to the plenary committee for electoral system reform.

Through social media (SNS) on the same day, Representative Ahn pointed out, "The plenary committee is being held for four days in the National Assembly for the first time in 20 years. Although it is intended to reach a consensus among all members of the National Assembly on electoral system reform, after two days, even the members themselves have no expectations, and there is no public response."

Ahn Cheol-soo, People Power Party lawmaker = Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

He evaluated, "From opinions about increasing or decreasing the number of seats, to increasing or abolishing proportional representation, to maintaining the single-member district system or introducing a mixed system?medium-sized districts in urban areas and single-member districts in rural areas?individual members' opinions have been poured out in a disorderly manner," adding, "The system is supposed to bring order to disorderly opinions, but so far, the plenary committee has failed to fulfill that role."

The alternative proposed by Representative Ahn is the American-style plenary committee.

He introduced, "The U.S. Congress's plenary committee functions as a forum that substantively debates and amends specific bills before the general assembly. It relaxes quorum requirements and sets detailed debate rules to increase efficiency compared to the general assembly. In the initial stage, debates are conducted only on bills brought up mainly by the party whips, followed by a process where amendments are proposed and voted on through five-minute limited speeches."

Representative Ahn said, "Our National Assembly's plenary committee also needs to be more efficient and substantive," adding, "The debate procedures should be streamlined, voting should be made substantive, and authority extending to the general assembly should be granted." He stated, "Even if there are no bills immediately, if agreements and consent are reached among political parties, it can proceed that way. What the public wants to see one year before the general election is concrete reform plans."

He argued, "If the plenary committee ends with only individual opinions being presented, the National Assembly will appear incompetent, and if authority is transferred again to the special political committee or the leadership of the two major parties, the same issues will be disputed again, and only time will pass," emphasizing, "To create good politics, good systems and proper operation are needed first."