Ruling Parties Agree on Political Reform

The ruling coalition's two parties, the National Congress for New Politics(NCNP) and the United Liberal Democrats(ULD), agreed on the substance and manner of political reform on May 6.
They selected to introduce a single constituency system and party proportional system in the National Assembly, beginning with the general election in the year 2000.
While curtailing the number of assemblymen from 299 to 270, one voter can cast his ballot both for a candidate and a party, just like in Germany and Japan.
Eight political reform committee members including NCNP's Ahn Dong Sun and ULD's Kim Jong Ho consented to this platform, but left room for the opposition Grand National Party(GNP) on a multi-constituency system.
Although the coalition wants to finish the deal before July, the GNP recently announced a radical struggle against the ruling parties, so the reform's outcome is not certain.
The two parties assented to prolong the voting time from 6 pm to 8 o'clock for more participation.
Hwashik Bong : trojans@joongang.co.kr