SEOUL, Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung decided Monday to keep the current system of allocating proportional seats in the upcoming National Assembly elections despite criticism it encourages major parties to create temporary paper affiliates to win more proportional seats.

Lee, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), has the final say over whether to keep the current system, known as the semi-mixed member proportional electoral system (MMP), because the DP, which holds a controlling majority in the Assembly, entrusted Lee with the decision.

The system was first introduced in the 2020 general elections with an aim to ensure minor parties are fairly represented in the National Assembly, but major parties, such as the DP and the People Power Party (PPP), abused the system by launching paper parties for proportional votes.

“The MMP system is imperfect but is a valuable accomplishment that marks a step forward. We will seek the path to victory within the MMP system,” Lee said in an emergency pres
s conference held at the May 18 National Cemetery in the southwestern city of Gwangju.

The DP and the ruling PPP have wrangled over whether to keep the current system or go back to the parallel representative system, where votes for constituency seats are counted separately from votes for parties. The PPP has called for returning to the parallel representative system.

Under the MMP representation system, parliamentary seats are tied to the percentage of voters’ support for political parties. The system was introduced in 2020, before the parliamentary elections to choose members of the 21st session of the National Assembly.

Such a scheme allows smaller parties to have room to secure more proportional slots. But critics argue it leads to a number of paper parties, also called “satellite parties,” formed with the goal of securing more proportional seats, ahead of the elections.

The National Assembly has 300 seats, with 253 constituency seats and 47 proportional seats.

Lee said his party will establish a par
ty for proportional votes.

PPP leader Han Dong-hoon strongly criticized Lee, saying the MMP system would only confuse voters due to its complicated seat counting rules.

“It is hard to understand that an election system that affects 50 million people is decided based on the feelings of a single individual named Lee Jae-myung,” Han told reporters. “It even confuses me, and the people would have no idea how their votes are counted.”

Source: Yonhap News Agency