In a landmark ruling, the Constitutional Court last week declared the current electoral districts unconstitutional and ordered revisions to be completed by the end of 2015.
In its ruling, the court said that the ratio of the most populous district to the least populous district should be 2-to-1. The revamped electoral districts will apply in the general election scheduled for April 2016. At the moment, the ratio stands at 3-to-1.
Yeouido is visibly rattled by the ruling as anything upsetting the status quo invites great turmoil in politics. Immediately following the announcement of the Constitutional Court’s decision, politicians quickly set to work, calculating their gains and losses.
To comply with the Constitutional Court’s order, each constituency must have a minimum of 139,000 and a maximum of 278,000 voters. Applied to the current demographics, 37 electoral districts exceed the maximum population while 25 districts do not meet the minimum number of constituents.
When the new 2-to-1 ratio is applied, The Gyeongsang provinces and the Jeolla provinces will be hit with losses in seats, while Seoul and the metropolitan areas as well as the Chungcheong provinces will see gains.
Such adjustments in the electoral districts will have profound long-term effects on politics in the country. The Gyeongsang provinces and the Jeolla provinces have traditionally been the strongholds of the conservative Saenuri Party and the progressive New Politics Alliance for Democracy, respectively. The reduction in the number of seats from these areas may have a moderating effect on their deeply rooted regional antagonism, which politicians have exploited to gain votes, as these provinces become less influential in the political landscape of the country.
Political parties will pay more attention to Seoul and the metropolitan areas, areas that are more moderate and have more floating voters. The constituents in these areas will motivate both the conservative and the progressive parties to move toward the center.
Great political upheavals are likely in the coming months as politicians wrestle with revising the electoral districts and debate a constitutional revision to amend the current five-year single-term presidency.
It is a hopeful sign that the two ruling parties are discussing handing over the task of revamping electoral districts to a neutral expert body such as the National Election Commission. If left to their devices, there is great danger that the task will become politically charged, becoming an all-consuming issue at the expense of the interests of the nation.
