한국일보

오늘 하루 이 창 열지 않음닫기

Number of Lawmakers to Be Increased to 299

2004-03-09 (화)
크게 작게
By Yoo Dong-ho
Staff Reporter

The number of lawmakers to be selected in the April 15 general elections will be increased to 299 from the current 273.

The new total was finalized as the National Assembly decided to create 11 more proportional seats rising to 57 from the current 46.


Pushed by time constraints with only a month before the April elections, 167 out of 270 lawmakers in attendance voted in support of a pro-government Uri Party-drafted bill on the number of proportional seats.

The decision came after months of political wrangling pitting the parties against each other.

The Assembly earlier finished drawing up a plan to adjust electoral districts last month, with the number of constituencies increasing from 227 to 242 nationwide.

Under the approved reform bills, the single-house legislature approved the bill to close down their local chapter offices as a means of putting an end to high-cost political practices.

The new election laws introduce the so-called two-ballot-per capita system in which a voter will cast one of his ballots to his favorite candidate and the other to a political party.

The minor opposition Millennium Democratic Party (MDP), for its part, insisted on no change, while a group of Grand National Party lawmakers wanted to reduce the number of proportional seats by 15 in order to maintain the current total of 273.

The Assembly was originally scheduled to vote last Tuesday on the Uri Party-sponsored bill. But, the voting session was hampered because the MDP unexpectedly submitted another bill that is seen intending to arbitrarily redesignate districts in an attempt to hold on to constituencies in North Cholla Province.


The district, composing Muju, Chinhan and Changsu, is currently represented by a pro-government Uri Party lawmaker. The MDP tried to divide it into two areas and have them absorbed into two neighboring constituencies.

yoodh@koreatimes.co.kr


카테고리 최신기사

많이 본 기사