Reform Party bans former leaders from proportional-representation bids in party overhaul

The Reform Party announced Thursday that it would ban former party leaders from running on proportional-representation slates and prohibit the creation of satellite parties, as part of a broader overhaul package.

Emergency Committee Chair Lee Ki-in convened a committee meeting that day and said the party would "enshrine these commitments in party rules now, so that positions cannot shift based on electoral convenience as an election approaches."

Lee said the reforms reflected a belief that "those who built and led this party should earn their mandates directly from constituents," adding that the measures amounted to "a commitment to open proportional-representation opportunities to new talent and to refuse to rely on the backdoor tactic of creating satellite parties just to win more seats."

While acknowledging that the principles behind the overhaul should be self-evident, Lee said the Reform Party was making the declaration first precisely because "these basic principles have been eroding in today's politics."

Lee also stressed the original purpose of the proportional-representation system. "The proportional-representation system exists to bring diverse voices and expertise into the National Assembly," he said, drawing a line against its use "to guarantee the reelection of party leaders or as a tool for large parties to divide up seats among themselves."

"If we are to criticize other parties for their shortcuts, we must first cut ourselves off from that temptation," he added. "If we want to bring in new talent, those who came before must make room."

Lee said key figures needed to put down roots in their communities, new talent needed to come in and take on roles, and members' proposals needed to be reflected in actual policy and party operations. "Only then can the potential of a few individuals translate into competitiveness for the party as a whole," he said.

Lee noted that South Korea had seen multiple challenges to the two-party system, saying parties such as the United Liberal Democrats, the Unification National Party and the People's Party had each won considerable seats and support at their peaks.

However, he said, none had managed to sustain that momentum into lasting independent growth. "There is no guarantee that the Reform Party will automatically achieve a different outcome," he said.

Lee said disappointment with the two major parties did not automatically translate into the Reform Party's own strength, and that the party's future was not guaranteed simply because it had well-known politicians. "But there is no reason to accept the endings of the past as our own fate," he added.