Democratic lawmaker introduces three-bill package to stop 'hit-and-run' party defections in local councils

Rep. Heo Jong-sik of the Democratic Party of Korea (Incheon's Dong-gu and Michuhol-gu Gap) said Wednesday he had introduced a three-bill package to prevent local council members from irresponsibly quitting their party shortly after winning election — a practice he described as distorting the public will and trading positions with rival parties.

The package consists of three separate amendment bills: one to the Local Autonomy Act, one to the resident recall law and one to the Public Official Election Act.

The legislation follows a recent controversy in Incheon, where a district council member from an unidentified ward quit the Democratic Party just three days into the council term, then secured the chairmanship of a standing committee — the urban affairs committee — within a week, backed by People Power Party members.

In response, Heo designed the bills to close the legal loopholes that allow such manipulation of the public will.

Specifically, the package establishes a legal basis for blocking deals in which a defecting member teams up with another party to obtain a standing committee chairmanship.

The Local Autonomy Act amendment would bar any constituency-based local council member who voluntarily leaves their party within 30 days of the start of their term from being elected or appointed to any representative position — including council speaker, deputy speaker, standing committee chair or special committee chair — for the remainder of that term. A departing member would also be required to submit a written explanation of the party change to the council speaker within seven days of leaving, have it posted on the council's website and undergo a priority review by the ethics committee, strengthening both political and ethical accountability.

The resident recall law amendment would, for council members who voluntarily leave their party within 30 days of the start of their term, cut in half the number of signatures required to file a recall referendum petition — a significant lowering of the current legal threshold.

The Public Official Election Act amendment would require that any candidate who voluntarily leaves their registered party within 30 days of the start of their term have that fact disclosed in the candidate information section of the official printed election bulletin. The defection, the date of departure and the party the candidate belonged to at the time of registration would all appear on the second page of the bulletin, helping voters clearly identify members who have abandoned accountable politics.

"The three bills are a firm preventive measure against those who exploit legal loopholes to make a mockery of party members' hard work and voters' precious ballots," Heo said. "I will take the lead in pushing these bills through to final passage in the National Assembly to restore the broken trust of party members and local residents, and to build a local government where common sense and justice prevail."