The ruling and opposition party leaders agreed on the 1st to actively discuss the revival of the district party that was abolished in 2004 due to the controversy over illegal political funding. In the political world, there was criticism that “re-creating the district party that was abolished in 2004 while being criticized as a ‘money-eating hippopotamus’ is not political reform but regression. It will become a hotbed of illegal political funding in a high-cost, low-efficiency political structure.”
The ruling and opposition parties announced that after the meeting between People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon and Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, they had decided to “actively discuss the introduction of a district party system to revitalize party politics.” With the agreement between the ruling and opposition party leaders, discussions on revising the Political Parties Act and Political Funds Act related to the revival of district parties are expected to begin in earnest. If the law is passed, non-parliamentary chairpersons will be able to raise donations and open district offices to engage in political activities like incumbent lawmakers.
A representative of the party said in a phone call with the Dong-A Ilbo, “In order to expand the ruling party’s base in the metropolitan area, which is a difficult area, the revival of the district party should come first.” The Democratic Party is also known to have brought up the revival of the district party in order to secure support from non-members for Representative Lee along with the strategy of targeting the Yeongnam region, including Busan.
However, some point out that it is not right to revive district parties under the pretext of “political reform” when the political environment has not changed much from 20 years ago. District parties were called for abolition after the so-called “Cha-ttegi” illegal presidential election fund scandal in 2002, and were abolished in 2004 when the so-called “Oh Se-hoon Act” or the amendment to the Political Parties Act was passed by the National Assembly. A People Power Party lawmaker from the metropolitan area criticized, “We abolished district parties because they had problems, but I wonder if our politics has become that clean in the past 20 years,” and “I am not sure if the revival of district parties is a political reform measure that will restore the people’s trust.”
Reporter Lee Sang-heon [email protected]
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2024-09-02 01:45:39