The current 19th National Assembly is said to be one of South Korea’s worst-ever parliaments, with critics pointing to its poor legislative performance, partisan standoffs and the numerous scandals that have hit its members. It is fortunate that its four-year term is drawing to an end.
Unfortunately, the poor Koreans may have yet another bad parliament — perhaps one even worse than the 19th Assembly. There are many bad omens.
First, with only about 40 days left before the April 13 voting day, voters don’t know yet who will be running in many of the constituencies. The biggest share of the blame, of course, should go to the ruling and main opposition parties which completely missed the deadline for redrawing the electoral map.
The delay in fixing the constituency boundaries has affected the nomination process of the major parties. But the bigger problem is that the behind-schedule finalization of the electoral map is not the only factor behind the drawn-out nomination of candidates.
In the ruling Saenuri Party, factional strife is impeding nominations. The internal feud pits members loyal to President Park Geun-hye — referred to as pro-Parks — against non-Parks.
The nomination war once generated a rumor about a blacklist of about 40 lawmakers to be denied nomination, and leaks of opinion surveys of candidates — with some of the data rigged — that were conducted by the ruling party’s think tank.
More disturbing is that both factions — in part to protect their own members — are ignoring the public calls to replace disreputable lawmakers with outside figures.
So far, the ruling party has dropped only one lawmaker from its nomination process. The situation is a little better at the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea, which has dropped 10 lawmakers. But it too is ignoring public calls to avoid nominating lawmakers pinpointed by civic groups, including those who have used foul and abusive language.
The consistent talk of possible opposition unity between the Minjoo Party and the People’s Party is also confusing candidates and voters. All but Ahn Cheol-soo — the coleader of the People’s Party — seem to favor the idea of fielding unified candidates against the ruling party.
Such party politics overshadows the election campaign, which should be focused on national and local agendas. There is growing concern that the election may turn out to be the worst in recent years.
