Parliament Repeatedly Misses Opportunities for NEC Reform: Why the Hesitation?

[Anchor]

Even before the recent shortage of ballot papers, the National Election Commission (NEC) faced numerous issues, and it is not as if there haven't been attempts to reform it. Relevant bills have been consistently proposed in the National Assembly, but they have repeatedly failed to be processed and were ultimately scrapped.

Ha Jeong-yeon examines why this has been the case.

[Reporter]

During the 2022 presidential election, when the "basket voting" controversy erupted, a series of bills aimed at reforming the National Election Commission were proposed in the National Assembly.

[Kim Gyo-heung / Democratic Party lawmaker (then-Chair of the National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee): I urge the NEC to take special care so that it can regain the public's trust as a constitutional institution worthy of the name. I hereby submit the bills for collective consideration.]

In the 21st National Assembly, various reform bills were introduced, ranging from changing the position of the NEC Chairperson to a full-time role, to introducing National Assembly confirmation hearings for the Secretary-General, a ministerial-level position, and opening the Auditor position—previously held by internal staff—to external candidates.

However, these bills remained stuck at the standing committee level and were eventually scrapped upon the expiration of the parliamentary term.

Even in the 20th National Assembly, bills were proposed to improve the practice of having local court judges serve as chairpersons of election commissions at various levels, but these also failed to become law.

In particular, concerns regarding the structure where a Supreme Court Justice concurrently serves as the non-permanent NEC Chairperson have been raised since the early 2000s. A bill to change this to a full-time position was proposed as early as the 17th National Assembly, but it failed to pass.

Some point out that these efforts have repeatedly fizzled out because the National Assembly is wary of the NEC, which holds the authority to interpret election laws.

An aide to a lawmaker on the Public Administration and Security Committee, which oversees the NEC, described the atmosphere by saying, "When election season arrives, we have no choice but to rely on the NEC's interpretation of the law. The National Assembly is often in a position of needing their cooperation, so we are inevitably conscious of the NEC."

The suggestion is that the National Assembly has been passive in resolving NEC issues due to a subtle "power dynamic" with the commission, which effectively acts as a "referee" during every election.

There are currently over 10 bills related to NEC reform pending in the 22nd National Assembly, and voices are growing louder that things must be different this time.

Reported by Ha Jeong-yeon | Video by Lee Seung-hwan | Video Editing by Won Hyung-hee | Graphics by Lee Jong-jung and Jegal Chan
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.