The thorniest task facing the parliamentary special committee on political reform, which was set up last week, may be rezoning the 246 electoral districts ahead of the next general election in April 2016.

The main guidance for the rezoning work will be last year’s ruling by the Constitutional Court that the population deviation between the most and least populous constituencies should be narrowed from the current 3-to-1. This will be changed to 2-to-1 to ensure each voter exercises more equal voting rights. As a result, some of the parliamentary constituencies may have to be merged or abolished.

This readjustment is overdue, given that other advanced democracies have stricter limits on the deviation of populations among electoral districts. Germany, for example, limits the deviation to 1.3-to-1.

The work to redraw constituencies is also supposed to take into account a recent proposal from the National Election Commission to increase the number of proportional representation seats in the 300-member National Assembly from the current 54 to 100.

It is a duty for the members on the bipartisan committee to work out a fair and just electoral system that leaves no room for unconstitutionality. As shown in previous cases, however, it is never easy work. More often than not, incumbent lawmakers’ adherence to vested interests has resulted in distorting the parliamentary constituency system. Lawmakers from rival parties, who have clashed over all but the most sensitive issues, have struck the same chord in redrawing electoral districts to their advantage.

Regrettably, this selfish practice is expected to become more severe this time around, as more than 60 parliamentary precincts are set to be affected by the Constitutional Court’s ruling and the election commission’s suggestion. It is just absurd that some legislators, whose countryside constituencies with lower populations may be abolished, are insisting on allowing urban voters to choose to register and vote in their rural hometowns.

In order to ensure the rezoning process is just and transparent, it may be more effective for the political reform committee to leave the work to an independent body that includes civilian representatives. The rival parties have disregarded their agreement in January on the need to form a neutral organization to redraw constituencies.

The parliamentary committee may not have to necessarily be barred from the rezoning work. But all its members should recognize any conclusion that falls short of reasonable standards will invite a heavy public backlash, including calls for a cut in the number of parliamentary seats.