Deutsche Welle, 9 March 2014
North
Koreans have gone to the polls to approve a new national parliament. But the
results are a foregone conclusion.
North
Koreans began voting on Sunday in an election to approve the Supreme People's
Assembly - a "parliament" that meets only once or twice a year to
approve budgets made by the ruling communist Workers' Party.
The vote is
not democratic, with only one approved candidate standing for each of the 687
districts. Voters are given the choice only of a "yes" or
"no" for the single candidate on their ballot.
Virtually
all choose yes.
The vote is
considered obligatory. Outside observers say this makes elections in the
country an opportunity for the government to hold a national census.
State-run
media have vigorously promoted the elections over the past weeks. A number of
poems have been published to celebrate the act of casting a ballot, with titles
such as "The Billows of Emotion and Happiness" and "We Go to the
Polling Station."
The
elections are the first since March 2009, and also the first under leader Kim
Jong Un, who took over as head of state in December 2011 upon the death of his
father, Kim Jong-Il.
The younger
Kim is also standing in this year's elections as a candidate for the
constituency of Mount Paektu, a mountain traditionally venerated by Koreans and
officially recognized as the birthplace of Kim Jong Il - though outside
historians agree he was born in the former Soviet Union.
Election
results are normally announced the next day, and the parliament is expected to
convene sometime next month.
When the
Assembly is not in session, the smaller and more powerful Presidium does its
work.
tj/kms (AP, AFP)
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