As the National Assembly's Special Investigation Committee, which will investigate the truth about the shortage of ballot papers for the June 3 local elections, began operating in earnest starting with a report from the National Election Commission on the 23rd, attention is also focused on the direction of National Election Commission reform.
The ruling and opposition parties appear to have formed a consensus on the 21st that the National Election Commission is in fact being left in the blind spot of monitoring and checks, and that loopholes in election management, its core work, are being repeatedly found, and that the number of standing members of the National Election Commission, including the chairman, should be increased to strengthen management.
At the same time, there is no disagreement on the need to strengthen supervision, but there is a fundamental difference of opinion on the issue of one-point constitutional amendment for this purpose.
Furthermore, opinions are sharply divided on the plan to abolish the early voting system, which is being discussed in some quarters.
Separately from this, the People Power Party is preparing to raise the 'passport responsibility theory' in the process of identifying the cause of this incident. In response to this, the Democratic Party of Korea is taking a stance that it will resolutely block political attacks, so a sharp fight between the ruling and opposition parties is expected during the special committee's activities.
◇ The ruling and opposition parties agree with one voice on the permanent appointment of the National Election Commission chairman.
The ruling and opposition members of the National Security Special Committee, whose role is to uncover the truth about the ballot paper shortage and devise measures to improve the system, appear to have no disagreement that the National Election Commission Act should be revised and the current part-time chairman of the National Election Commission should be made full-time.
Currently, the chairman of the National Election Commission elects one member from among the election commissioners, and the election commissioner, who is usually a Supreme Court Justice, serves as the chairperson as a non-permanent member.
Accordingly, it has been pointed out that actual administrative work is led by the Secretary General and the Chairman of the National Election Commission receives an after-the-fact report, resulting in unaccountable operations. The 'Guidelines for reducing the number of ballot paper printings', which was identified as a key cause of the ballot paper shortage, was also decided by the Secretary-General.
Furthermore, the ruling and opposition parties believe that in addition to the chairperson, other non-permanent members should also be converted to full-time positions.
The purpose is to strengthen the committee's responsibility by increasing the number of standing members of the committee.
Currently, only one of the nine members appointed by the President is a standing committee member, and the remaining eight members, including the chairman, are non-standing members.
A member of the Democratic Party of the Special Committee on National Security told Yonhap News, "The change to a permanent system for the chairman will increase the responsibility of the National Election Commission," and added, "The full-time committee will establish internal discipline and make efforts to increase operational efficiency."
A member of the People Power Party also said in a phone call, "The committee and the secretariat are as separated as oil and water, so the committee is in a state of a straw man that knows nothing if it does not receive reports from the secretariat," and added, "We will discuss various measures, including switching to a permanent system."
◇ Differences of opinion on the detailed supervision system plan… Opposition to national power against ‘one-point constitutional amendment theory’
As the serious problem of lax discipline at the National Election Commission has been revealed in conjunction with the shortage of ballot papers, the ruling and opposition parties believe that measures should be taken to strengthen external checks and surveillance on the National Election Commission through the National Security Special Committee.
The reason is that it is difficult to expect midnight due to repeated situations that have received public criticism, such as the controversy over preferential hiring in the past, suspicions of numerous overseas business trips, an increase in the number of people on leave during national elections, and a significant proportion of private contracts.
However, there are clear differences of opinion between the ruling and opposition parties regarding the specific direction.
First of all, the Democratic Party's position is that there is a need to consider a one-point constitutional amendment to include the National Election Commission in the scope of inspection by the Board of Audit and Inspection.
As the Constitutional Court ruled last year that the National Election Commission's inspection of duties is not within the scope of the Board of Audit and Inspection, the basis for external control must be established through constitutional amendment.
The content of the election committee consisting of 9 members (3 appointed by the President, 3 elected by the National Assembly, and 3 appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court) can also be modified through constitutional amendment.
A member of the Democratic Party's special committee said in a phone call, "There are clearly areas where the National Election Commission can be reformed through constitutional amendment."
Previously, President Lee Jae-myung also mentioned the need for a one-point constitutional amendment to reform the National Election Commission on the 19th.
However, the People Power Party is clearly opposing this.
The reason is that if the discussion on National Election Commission reform moves to constitutional amendment, all issues can be sucked into constitutional amendment.
The People Power Party also has suspicions that once the door to gradual constitutional amendments is opened, the ruling party may attempt to revise the constitution at any time from then on.
A special committee member of the People Power Party told Yonhap News, "There is a lot of room for reform of the National Election Commission through legislation in the National Assembly. Finding the truth and improving the system are priorities. If we skip to constitutional amendment, the point will be blurred and reform of the National Election Commission will not work properly."
Some in the ruling party are also discussing the idea of having the Ministry of the Interior and Safety take charge of voting and counting management and having local governments handle the actual work.
However, there are differences of opinion within the Democratic Party regarding this, and the People Power Party is strongly opposed, so its implementation is expected to be uncertain.
This is due to concerns that neutrality may be violated if the Minister of Public Administration and Security, appointed by the President, and the head of a local government affiliated with a political party are in charge of vote counting.
A member of the Democratic Party's special committee said, "In the case of Gyeongbuk, can the Democratic Party candidate be trusted if the local government head of the People Power Party says he will vote by ballot?" He added, "It is important to improve the efficiency of the National Election Commission's work, but we must also think about how to guarantee neutrality."
A special committee member of the People Power Party said, "If we want to hand over the work to the Ministry of Public Administration and Security and abolish the National Election Commission, which is a constitutional institution, we must eventually amend the Constitution. We must not fall into a black hole of constitutional amendments. Having the Ministry of Public Administration and Security oversee election affairs is like handing over fish to a cat, and political neutrality should not be damaged while trying to improve election affairs."
Due to this difference in position, some are also mentioning a plan to establish a new supervisory body dedicated to the National Election Commission.
◇ There are also differences of opinion on the abolition of the early voting system... Battle over special investigation to uncover the truth
Some in the conservative opposition are also arguing that the early voting system should be abolished among the electoral systems in line with the National Election Commission reform.
Since there is controversy over poor management, the idea is to eliminate it altogether and only hold a general vote.
To this end, People Power Party lawmaker Park Dae-chul also proposed an amendment to the Public Official Election Act to abolish advance voting and extend main voting to two days.
In addition, Gangwon Governor Kim Jin-tae and Ulsan Mayor Kim Doo-gyeom of the People Power Party, who suffered hardships in this local election, also called for the abolition of advance voting, and five-term member Na Kyung-won also advocated at a press conference for the abolition of advance voting outside the district and holding early voting within the district just one day before the main vote.
In response to this, the Democratic Party is criticizing the People Power Party, the main opposition party, saying that it is siding with the so-called 'asphalt far right' theory of election fraud.
The Democratic Party's view is that while early voting has contributed to increasing voter turnout and has established itself as a system that broadly guarantees suffrage, the abolition of early voting may only reduce people's political interest.
A member of the Democratic Party's special committee pointed out, "Abolishing early voting is like burning the ground while trying to catch maggots," and added, "It is an argument that leans on the theory of election fraud."
In relation to this, there is an opinion within the People Power Party that rather than completely abolishing advance voting, there is a compromise in the line of refining the system.
A member of the National Security Special Committee told Yonhap News, "The system needs to be improved as poor management of early voting continues to give excuses to those who believe in election fraud. We will form an expert task force and make it public. If there is a system that will allow voters to participate in voting more than early voting, there is no need to stick to the current system."
Furthermore, there are significant differences of opinion between the ruling and opposition parties regarding the plan to conduct a special prosecution investigation after the national crisis.
The People Power Party's position is that it is necessary to introduce a special prosecutor in addition to the government investigation, and its policy is to look into the response process of not only the National Election Commission but also related organizations such as the Ministry of Public Administration and Security and the police.
Yoon Sang-hyun, special committee chairman of the People Power Party, told Yonhap News, "The joint investigation headquarters of the prosecution and police is investigating, but I think the special prosecutor should also go as well."
The Democratic Party's position is that it can consider a special prosecutor if necessary, but that it is not a priority.
Furthermore, it is believed that the People Power Party's mention of a special prosecutor before the national movement is put into operation is at the level of a loan offensive.
