DP hides behind a full vote once again

The Democratic Party (DP) has started to discuss putting the controversial proportional representation system to a full vote of its members to clear all the confusion, with only 70 days left before the April 10 parliamentary elections. Rep. Chung Cheong-rae, a lawmaker close to DP leader Lee Jae-myung, urged the majority party to return to the proportional representation system, which assigns 47 proportional representation seats out of the 300 seats to political parties based on their support rate. The lawmaker wanted to put the proposal to a full vote. Avid supporters of the DP leader sent texts to DP lawmakers to ask if they agree to the voting. Appearing on a radio program Monday, DP floor leader Hong Ihk-pyo left the option open, while prioritizing a unanimous decision by party leaders.

The DP dilly-dallied over whether to return to the previous proportional representation based on assigning 47 seats of proportional representatives to political parties according to their support rate or to maintain the current system of assigning only a half of the proportional seats based on their support rate. But after Lee and Chung’s push, the party shifted to return to the past. Nevertheless, about half of the DP lawmakers, or 80, insist on maintaining the current proportional representation and jointly establishing a coalition satellite party to get more proportional seats, as they don’t want to see a regression of the system. Insiders and outsiders of the party link the developments to the need for party leaders to mobilize hard-line supporters to do as they want.

In the last legislative elections four years ago, the DP resorted to a full vote after a heated debate arose over whether to allow satellite parties to be created. The DP eventually opened the way for satellite parties with 74.1 percent supporting it. Among its 2.45 million voting members, nearly a half entered the party after 2021, when Lee emerged as a presidential candidate. When Lee was elected as party leader, he received votes from 78.2 percent of party members with voting rights. In other words, most of the DP members with voting rights support Lee. At the end of last year, the DP even revised its constitution to reinforce the power of members with voting rights despite the concerns about the growing schisms between the party and the public. Under such circumstances, it does not make sense for the party leadership to mobilize a majority of hard-liners with voting rights to return to the past proportional representation system.

The governing People Power Party should be held accountable for the election system not being fixed yet. But the majority DP must take primary responsibility for the whole mess. If the party abandons its principles, it will be punished by voters.