The ruling conservative Saenuri Party has suggested that the parliamentary seating be rearranged in the incoming National Assembly so that ruling and opposition lawmakers can mingle, debate and cooperate beyond party membership.
“Let us rearrange the seating in the plenary session hall for the upcoming parliament so that ruling and opposition lawmakers will sit together side by side, instead of bunching up in groups,” the Saenuri’s floor leader Rep. Chung Jin-suk said Monday.
Saenuri Party floor leader Chung Jin-suk attends a meeting of first-time lawmakers-elect at the National Assembly on Tuesday.
The newly elected whip also suggested that senior lawmakers be seated in the front rows to show active participation in parliamentary proceedings.
The National Assembly Act states that the placement is to be decided upon the consensus of the parliamentary speaker and the representative of each bargaining unit.
It has been customary, however, to place the largest party at the center of the fan-shaped floor, the runner-up party on its right, and the remaining minority parties on its left.
Under this plan, it is the 123-seat main opposition party, The Minjoo Party of Korea -- which is to take the central position, shoving out the 122-seat ruling Saenuri.
The Assembly secretariat’s Proceedings Bureau reported, in reply to the Saenuri whip’s inquiry, that seats may be rearranged upon consensus as long as they remain fixed for the sake of electronic voting. It also suggested the idea of placing lawmakers according to their committee affiliation.
The Minjoo Party, however, is reluctant to revise the current rule that it sees as acting in its favor.
“(The relocation of seats) may cause some disorder in the floor,” said the opposition whip Woo Sang-ho on Tuesday.
“It would be more efficient to let parties group together so that they can discuss urgent issues right away.”
Vice floor leader Rep. Park Wan-ju also added that a change of seats is not a solution to improving inter-party communications.
Rep. Park Jie-won of the People’s Party echoed the Minjoo’s remarks, calling the relocation “unnecessary.”
Both opposition parties nevertheless promised to include the issue on the agendas of their floor meetings for further discussion.
“In order to create a policy-focused legislature, it may be an idea to reallocate lawmakers according to their committees,” said Kim Hyung-joon, a professor of political science at Myongji University.
Northern European states such as Sweden and Norway section their lawmakers based on elected regions, while the United Kingdom adopts a non-designated seat system with the ruling party members sat opposite the other parties. In the United States, senators and representatives sit in party clusters. In most countries, it is usual for senior lawmakers to take the front seats.
By Bae Hyun-jung (
tellme@heraldcorp.com)
Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald