2024-02-12 14:45:00
Kim Ji-hyun, Deputy Director of Political Department
The Democratic Party of Korea held a general meeting of members on the 6th and unanimously accepted a plan to maintain the current ‘semi-linked proportional representation system’ and create a satellite party in the 22nd general election. Everyone agreed to CEO Lee Jae-myeong’s proposal the day before. The semi-linked proportional system was first introduced during the last general election with the intention of realizing a multi-party system by giving up proportional representation seats to minority parties, but the purpose was neutralized as the two major parties competitively launched ‘trick satellite parties for proportional representation’ just before the election.
Representative Lee said in his plenary remarks at the General Assembly on this day, “The ruling party openly announced that it would create a satellite party. From the Democratic Party’s perspective, if they do not respond in a situation where (the opponent) is playing foul, the public’s vote will inevitably be distorted,” he said, arguing that the People Power Party had no choice but to create a satellite party this time.
The remarks that followed were even more absurd. He said, “What I would like to ask the lawmakers here is to make the debate more intense, but as members of the party, if a decision is made (by the party), they will gladly follow it even if there are shortcomings.” Even if you don’t like the conclusion, follow it quietly. In layman’s terms, it’s like saying, “Shut up and criticize me.”
Representatives Lee Tan-hee, Kim Sang-hee, and Kim Du-gwan also attended the general meeting on this day. About 30 people, including Rep. Lee Tan-hee, held a press conference on November 15 last year and demanded the adoption of the ‘Satellite Political Party Prevention Act’, saying, “The People Power Party is only making cowardly excuses that there is no way to stop satellite political parties, but the Democratic Party must be different.” Rep. Lee said at the time, “Political scientist Shugart called satellite parties ‘puppet parties.’ “It is a puppet party,” he said, adding, “Let’s not create a puppet party (through the satellite party prevention law).”
On the 28th of the same month, 75 Democratic Party members also proposed an amendment to the Public Official Election Act, banning satellite political parties in principle. Rep. Kim Sang-hee, a former vice-chairman of the National Assembly, proposed the amendment bill and argued, “It was expected that the quasi-linked proportional system would be more advantageous in securing seats for minority parties, but the purpose of introducing the system was severely damaged through the so-called ‘satellite parties’ and supplementation is urgently needed.” .
In this way, lawmakers who were fully aware of the problems and side effects of satellite political parties unanimously accepted the creation of a satellite political party in just three months. A Democratic Party official said, “Unlike last November, isn’t it now completely the general election nomination season?” and added, “Who would now bother to go once morest the will of the party leader who holds the nomination rights?” Another opposition party official said, “There were many expectations that Representative Lee would delay the decision on the election system as much as possible to prevent division and defection within the party and take as much time as possible until the nomination season.”
Each member of the National Assembly is a constitutional body. As each person represents the people, they should have at least said that it is not the case until the end at the last general meeting of the electoral system. In that way, it would have been left as a record of history, and the harmful effects of satellite parties might have been once once more engraved in the process of reviewing the general election process in the future.
Han Dong-hoon, Chairman of the Emergency Response Committee of the People Power Party, sarcastically responded to the Democratic Party’s unanimous decision by saying, “Is this North Korea?” and “I don’t know why they have been fighting and supporting this until now when it should have been unanimous.” This seems like a very painful statement to Democratic Party members who followed Lee Jae-myung’s guidelines of ‘Shut up and criticize me.’ Where have all the Democratic Party members who said that satellite parties should never be established have gone?
Kim Ji-hyun, Deputy Director of Political Department [email protected]
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