“Same meaning as the anti-imperialist coalition” “Trick in the 3rd zone” [민주, ‘꼼수 위성정당’ 회귀]

When the Democratic Party of Korea announced its intention to create a satellite party on the 5th, there were mixed emotions between the pro-Democratic Party’s minor parties and the three-zone political parties. The New Progressive Alliance, which had been demanding that the Democratic Party join the creation of a proportional coalition, was upset. The Green Justice Party issued a conditional welcome, saying that it could not function as a satellite party of the Democratic Party alone. There was opposition from political parties in the 3rd zone, calling it “a trick to deprive the 3rd zone.”

Oh Jun-ho, co-chairman of the New Progressive Alliance’s election committee, expressed his welcome on this day, saying, “It has the same meaning as the ‘largest coalition for anti-Yun reform’ that the Basic Income Party has been advocating.” The New Progressive Alliance is a coalition of the Basic Income Party, the Open Democratic Party, and the Social Democratic Party, and has been requesting the Democratic Party to join the proportional coalition party.

Some in the Democratic Party also predict that the New Progressive Alliance will become the preferred negotiator. This is because there are few opinions within the party to join them. Rep. Woo Won-sik responded by saying, “The Democratic Party is planning to run for regional elections, find a way for all parties to agree, and join forces as a proportional coalition party.” The fact that Rep. Yong Hye-in of the Basic Income Party was elected as a satellite party of the Democratic Party also lends support to this observation.

The Green Justice Party, which proposed a plan to maintain the semi-linked system but place an upper limit (cap), gloated that it had prevented a return to the parallel system, but said it would be difficult to form a satellite party of the Democratic Party. Kim Jun-woo, standing representative of the Green Justice Party, said, “Citizens will not forgive if it is in the same form as the Citizens’ Party in 2020.”

New parties in the 3rd zone are expected to speed up the formation of a ‘big tent’ that is advantageous to the semi-linked system. This is because the three major powers, rather than the two major parties, must combine their approval ratings into one party to win at least one more seat. For this reason, new parties in the 3rd zone strongly criticized the Democratic Party’s creation of a satellite party. This is because satellite parties created by the two major parties monopolize proportional representation seats, taking away the original purpose of the interlocking system. New Future CEO Lee Nak-yeon said, “It is a ruinous idea that maximizes the harmful effects of the existing two-party monopoly political structure and political polarization.” Lee Jun-seok, leader of the New Reform Party, said, “If you look at the purpose of the law, it is clear whether being a satellite political party is contrary to or in line with the purpose of the current election law.”

From this day on, discussions on proportional coalition parties are expected to begin in earnest. As Representative Lee Jae-myung said, “It is half a satellite party and half a coalition platform,” the form of the Citizens’ Party is expected to be considered first during the 21st general election. At that time, the Citizens’ Party decided on the order of proportional representation through its own candidate contest from number 1 to number 10, and placed the Democratic Party’s proportional representation candidates starting from number 11. In addition, it appears that ‘trick withdrawal’ from the party will be carried out by lending members of the party who have declared not to run for office to a coalition party.

Reporters Kim Hyun-woo and Park Ji-won

[ⓒ 세계일보 & Segye.com, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]