Suncheon City Council, All-Out Bipartisan Effort to Normalize Electoral Districts

Resolution Urging the Division of Single-Member Electoral Districts Delivered to the National Assembly Political Affairs Committee

The Suncheon City Council in Jeollanam-do visited the National Assembly on the 27th to deliver a resolution urging the normalization of the Suncheon National Assembly electoral district.

According to the draft electoral district delimitation plan for the 22nd general election submitted by the National Assembly Electoral District Delimitation Committee, Suncheon will increase from one seat to two seats, with a decision for a separate division.

[Photo by Suncheon City Council]

Members of the Suncheon City Council met directly with Nam In-soon, Chairperson of the Special Committee on Political Reform, and committee members Kim Young-bae, Lee Tan-hee, Jang Dong-hyuk, and Shim Sang-jung to deliver the resolution and strongly urged that the draft be finalized as is. Other members of the Special Committee on Political Reform expressed their opinions by delivering the resolution to the aides' offices.

The Special Committee on Political Reform is an ad hoc special committee reconstituted in the 21st National Assembly (plenary session on November 11, 2021) to discuss the adjustment of the eligibility age and the delimitation of electoral districts for the 22nd local elections. It reviews the delimitation plan submitted by the National Assembly Electoral District Delimitation Committee and may request a re-delimitation once.

The attending council members unanimously stated that the incorporation of Haeryong-myeon, with a population of about 55,000, into the neighboring city of Gwangyang seriously infringes on the constitutionally guaranteed voting rights, based on the Constitutional Court’s principle that “adjacent areas should form one electoral district” and the Public Official Election Act’s provision that “a part of one autonomous district, city, or county cannot be divided and assigned to another National Assembly electoral district.”

Chairman Jeong Byeong-hoe said, “The division of the electoral district is the rightful right of the citizens of Suncheon,” and added, “The Suncheon City Council will do its best to normalize the electoral district.”

Meanwhile, since the 21st general election, when the Haeryong area was merged with Gwangyang-Gurye-Gokseong, the Suncheon City Council has actively engaged in legislative activities, including holding press conferences urging the division of the district for “Jeollanam-do Suncheon separate electoral district division.”

Suncheon = Lee Yeon-kyung, Honam Reporting Headquarters, Asia Economy hss79@asiae.co.kr