[Opinion] Absurd Planning for Creating a New Party

There is a saying: “Proportional representatives do not even catch a cold even when everyone catches one.” Backup candidates of proportional representatives can succeed proportional representatives only when they voluntarily leave the party or pass away, but once one becomes a proportional representative, he or she somehow stays in perfect health, according to Lee Hun-pyeong, former lawmaker of the Democratic Party (DP). Although Lee’s name was on the 16th DP proportional representative list during the 15th National Assembly, he had to anxiously wait his turn until Rep. Kim Han-gill gave away his seat after being appointed as the senior presidential secretary for political affairs.

Lee’s remarks imply that the chance of proportional representatives withdrawing from the party is slimmer than that of them passing away. It is because proportional representatives lose their seats when they bolt from the party. Choi Byeong-ryeol, former chairman of the Grand National Party (GNP), once described proportional representatives as “heavenly jobs,” because proportional representatives can enjoy all the privileges as lawmakers without having to suffer from managing a local constituency. So who would voluntarily return such a golden position?

One way of leaving the party while maintaining a parliamentary seat is being kicked out of the party. However, no party will just let proportional representatives walk away. For instance, when Rep. Kim Hong-shin refused to follow the party platform in 2003, the GNP suspended his party membership instead of expelling him. When the Uri Party was launched, a banner reading, “Ungrateful and wicked proportional representatives must leave the Democratic Party,” was put up at the previous DP headquarters. The banner was aimed at the proportional representatives whose hearts were with the newly created Uri Party, even though they belonged to the DP.

However, an extraordinary event has occurred. Uri Party Chairman Chung Sye-gyun recently hinted to proportional representatives that he may let them walk away with their seats for the creation of a new party. This is, however, completely against the principles of the representative system and politics. Incumbent proportional representatives were selected under the party list system. In other words, they were selected by the votes of the people, unlike those in the past. Those who break the principles of democracy and party politics do not have the right to claim to talk about “new politics.” The incident has revealed the true colors of the Uri Party.

Kim Chang-hyeok, Editorial Writer, chang@donga.com