Ruling Coalition Examines Plural Constituency System

The ruling National Congress for New Politics(NCNP), on March 7, was quoted as saying that it is examining a change from the current single-elect constituency system to a multi-elect one. This system, modeled on the German electoral system, would allow voters to choose a candidate as well as a party of their choice. Each voting district would send the candidate who attained the most votes to the Assembly, but the party votes would also be totaled, and additional seats at the Assembly would be divided by the parties based on their share of the votes received.
The 16th general election for the National Assembly is scheduled for April 2,000.
A source from the NCNP asserted, 'Our party will study every possible political ramification if a change is made to the electoral system, but we will wait until after the summit talk between President Kim Dae Jung and the opposition leader Lee Hoi Chang. There will be a lot of opinions forthcoming from the Assembly's political reform committee including various views on the introduction of the proportional representation system.'
Kim Jong Kil, chief secretary on political affairs for the Blue House(Chong Wa Dae) mentioned on March 7, 'There is no rule that the election system must be an irrevocable, all-time one, and this means anything proposed by the political sector, such as a multi-election system, can be discussed.'
The ruling coalition feels the new system will give parties more national and broad-based support instead of being simply regional entities.