The state election watchdog has suggested a temporary increase in the National Assembly quota in order to embrace the newly established Sejong City.

Both the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic United Party were skeptical of the proposal, but vowed to hold last-minute negotiations by Wednesday.

Lee Jong-woo, secretary-general of the National Election Commission, met with party floor leaders on Tuesday and offered to allow an exception for this year’s election and to increase the parliamentary quota from the current 299 to 300.

He also claimed that the constituency demarcation panel should become an independent organization in order to prevent future delays based on parties’ interest.

The parties, however, were reluctant to accept the NEC’s proposal. “The 299-member quota was based on the people’s consensus and should not be changed so easily,” said Rep. Lee Doo-ah, the Saenuri Party’s floor spokesperson.

“However, considering that we have little time until the official candidate registration, we will leave room for final negotiations.”

The DUP, on the other hand, urged the Saenuri Party to agree to its plan.

“The Saenuri Party keeps changing its views on the issue, clearly having no objective standards,” said Rep. Kim Yoo-jung, the DUP floor spokesperson.

“It should no longer delay the election schedule with irrational claims.”

The intervention of the NEC came amid the ongoing disputes over which electoral constituencies should be merged in order to counter the three new constituencies ― Paju in Gyeonggi Province, Wonju in Gangwon Province and Sejong City in South Chungcheong Province.

The DUP thus suggested that two constituencies in Yeongnam, or the southeast Gyeongsang regions, and one in Honam, or Jeolla regions, should be amalgamated with neighboring areas.

“We selected the constituencies with the lowest population, an objective standard suggested by the Constitutional Court,” said Rep. Park Ki-choon of the DUP.

“Actually, the top three priority regions were in Yeongnam, but we took a step back and offered to reduce a constituency in Honam as well.”

The ruling party, however, objected to the plan as the Yeongnam area is considered a traditional right-wing stronghold and a constituency merger there may reduce the party’s proportion in the next parliament.

The ruling party thus suggested earlier to reduce the number of proportional representatives but soon changed its target to the Nowon constituency in Seoul.

“It would be logical to cut the surplus quota from the proportional representative pool, but the DUP would not consent to it,” said Rep. Joo Sung-young, Saenuri negotiator for the special parliamentary committee on political reforms.

The demarcation panel recommended that the multiple constituencies in Nowon-gu and Seongdong-gu are subject to integration due to their relatively low population.

However, both parties faced public blame for gerrymandering, or manipulating the electoral constituencies for their respective interest.

“Both the Saenuri Party and the DUP are shameless to delay the election schedules based on their respective interest,” said Sim Dae-pyung, chairperson of the right-wing minority Liberty Forward Party Monday.

The candidate registration for the April 11 general elections is to take place on March 22-23. Also, the electorate list for overseas voting is to start on Wednesday, so the constituencies are to be confirmed by then, according to NEC officials.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)