Leading Party Suggesting Big Deal of Responsible Prime Minister System & City-Country Composite Election District System

The leading party made a public suggestion on December 26 that will be the most critical factor in the last-minute political reform discussion. The suggestion involves a “Big Deal” about the Responsible Prime Minister System & City-Country Composite Election District System.

Collaborative Chairman Kim Won-ki of the Uri Party demonstrated a win-win strategy reasoning while explaining how they have come to an end in seeking a solution with the opposition party at the Supreme Leadership Committee. Regarding the reason why the Responsible Prime Minister System & City-Country Composite Election District System should be simultaneously resolved, he said, “If the Responsible Prime Minister holds the right of appointment for the cabinet members in the current local political system, the political center will be manipulated, and this will give full rights to specific local parties and give rise to dysfunction rather than to positive effects.”

Regarding the issue, the Uri Party, if the three opposition parties - the Grand National Party (GNP), the Millennium Democratic Party, and the United Liberal Democrats-push forward the “plural plan” which intends to increase the number of the local districts under the current small election district system, the local structure will be stabilized, and the impossibility of establishing the Responsible Prime Minister System will increase. Therefore, the big deal suggested by the Uri Party works as a preventive interdicting measure against the Responsible Prime Minister System and the Constitutional Amendment for Distribution of Power against which the opposition parties will oppose after the general election.

The GNP spoke in rage regarding the public suggestion, “It is an old-fashioned strategy to allure the public and change the present political state.” Secretary General Lee Jae-oh said at the Major Leaders’ Meeting of Emergency Planning Committee regarding the Responsible Prime Minister System, “Our party has deserted the issue long time ago. The leading party that had criticized the Responsible Prime Minister System as a ‘conspiracy idea of a coup d’etat’ is not changing their words. We can no longer accept the attitude to transfer the blame of the current chaos to the opposition parties.” The reason why the GNP is distancing itself from the big deal which some of their representatives have suggested before is because they may get involved in an internal dispute once again if they discuss the system again in the midst of the current discussion of increasing the number of local districts under the small election district system.

There is positive reaction within the Millennium Democratic Party which has previously settled on the plan of Medium and Large-sized election district system. Spokesperson Kim Young-hwan imprudently said, “I have come across the chief secretary of state affairs to the president, Yoo In-tae, and heard about the simultaneous establishment of the systems. But, we are considering it carefully since it might bring disruption in the party.” There are voices preferring the cross-voting within the party, but the major opinion is that they do not have to make a decision of accepting the plan since the most critical decision maker would be the GNP.

Therefore, it is not likely that the big deal would be accepted by the opposition parties. However, the leading party will continuously push forward the Responsible Prime Minister System & City-Country Composite Election District System to appeal to the preference to the medium and large election district system held by leading representatives in the metropolitan area of both the opposition parties and the opposition’s attachment to the Responsible Prime Minister System. The president is also supporting the plan. The leading party is thinking that they could at least build up their cause in “making efforts to overthrow the local structure” even if they might not succeed in accomplishing the plan.