The aim is to change the electoral system
In a letter delivered to National Assembly speaker Park Kwan-yong, Roh called on lawmakers to adopt a "multiple-seat system," with five or more lawmakers per constituency.
The letter was also sent to leaders of all political parties and the chairmen of the related parliamentary committees and all other lawmakers.
To keep the current "single" electoral system, in which one lawmaker is elected from each district, Roh supported the introduction of the proportional representation system, in which seats are allocated to parties according to the number of votes each party receives.
Roh's reform initiatives also included increasing the number of lawmakers if and when the proportional representation system is adopted and maintaining political parties' regional offices.
The move came after Roh said Tuesday that he would undergo questioning if the prosecution requested it after uncovering his election camp's use of improper funds during the presidential election last December.
In a televised news conference, he urged all political parties to cooperate with the prosecution's investigation into their illegal fund raising in a bid to achieve clean and transparent politics.
Roh said he believed the "current hardships" would help forge a path toward a new era of political reform, asserting that, despite allegations of illegal fund raising, "the presidential election expenses declined by one-tenth compared with previous presidential election campaigns."
By Sim Sung-tae
Election Day '09 was a roller-coaster for election reformers. Instant runoff voting had a great night in Minnesota, where St. Paul voters chose to implement IRV for its city elections, and Minneapolis voters used IRV for the first time—with local media touting it as a big success. As the Star-Tribune noted in endorsing IRV for St. Paul, Tuesday’s elections give the Twin Cities a chance to show the whole state of Minnesota the benefits of adopting IRV. There were disappointments in Lowell and Pierce County too, but high-profile multi-candidate races in New Jersey and New York keep policymakers focused on ways to reform elections; the Baltimore Sun and Miami Herald were among many newspapers publishing commentary from FairVote board member and former presidential candidate John Anderson on how IRV can mitigate the problems of plurality elections.