SEOUL — North Korea elected its rubber-stamp parliament on Sunday in a poll that outside observers monitored closely for signs of a shift in the isolated Communist regime’s power structure.
With the election of delegates to the Supreme People’s Assembly, North Korea laid the ground for a new five-year term for its leader, Kim Jong Il. The first task when the new Assembly convenes in the coming weeks will be to re-elect Mr. Kim as chairman of the National Defense Commission, an event that analysts in the region say the North will likely celebrate with the launching of its longest-range missile, the Taepodong-2.
At Mr. Kim’s behest, the new parliament may also replace members of his cabinet and the National Defense Commission, the top ruling agency. North Korea watchers will scrutinize a new lineup for any sign that Mr. Kim is preparing to name a successor from one of his three known sons or is favoring a collective leadership of political and military advisers.
Soldiers in uniform and civilians in their holiday costumes, dancing and singing, queued up at voting stations across the country, the North’s state-run media said. They voted under the portraits of Kim and slogans avowing loyalty to his leadership.
In the previous poll in 2003, the country reported a 99.9 percent voter turnout and total support for the single candidate running in each of the country’s 687 constituencies, all hand-picked by Mr. Kim.
What is an "election" like this for? Is this election about "electing" anyone or is it about something else? Why does Kim bother with it? Is an election like this for the same purpose as an election in Iran?
(Cross-posted at our other blog)
And yet they dont call themselves a Dictatorship!!?? Didnt Ghadi say a Dictatorship is where the leadership of the state "aquires (and retains) power by means other than competitive (free and fair) elections" The people dont have a choice over who is in up for election, there is not free competition to even have a opposition. This is blatantly UNDEMOCRATIC. With armed forces around the polling stations, and one person to vote for, it lies in huge contrast to freedomhouse.com's guidlelines for a democratic state ("Free and Fair" elections with a realistic chance for the opposition to win) I suppose however if we are aren't so cut throat with our criteria they get a 1/10 for holding an election!
ReplyDeleteWell, with no opposition they're not really fooling anyone. It seems to me this is just a part of the propaganda machine to glorify Kim Jong-Il. "[C]ivilians in their holiday costumes, dancing and singing... voted under the portraits of Kim and slogans avowing loyalty to his leadership" - this seems to indicate that the election is more of a celebration of Kim and the regime than anything else.
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubt that these elections enforce
ReplyDeletethe glorfication of Kim and act as a
propoganda tool of asserting the strength of
his regime but it can also be said that
the "elections" are a national attempt at
citizen accountability. Through this process
it can be argued that Kim is maintaining a
hold on his people, forcing an ideology of
national unity on them. In the same light
these "elections" can be seen to enhance
ignorance throughout the state and act as a
tool of isolation. Through this process a
prospect of regime change is eradicated,
wihtout freedom of information who is going to
vote against a leader that appears to be so
publically popular?
Hi Xavier, somehow I managed to post in both blogs on same topic. Hopefully this doesn't cause any issues. The elections add no legitimacy to the regime at all! It is clear to the rest of the world the farcical nature of the elections and all it does is solidify the resolve of nations like the US in their avid condemnation of North Korea.
ReplyDeleteTo try and understand the point behind Kim holding elections is beyond me, if we were to understand then we would understand why he continues to lead the country the way he does.
An issue that arises from these nonsensical elections is the apathy that there will be amongst the people of North Korea towards elections due to the fact that they know the result is meaningless. This apathy will be inbuilt and could derail any legitimate elections for North Korea in a future without Kim.
No problem Hadley - any member of the class can post comments on either blog, though you can only post in the main page in one of them.
ReplyDeleteWhy would apathy endure once people are given a real choice? Wouldn't the opposite be the case? Meaningless elections existed in most Soviet countries, but people in Poland and the Czech Republic have taken quite enthusiastically to elections.
ReplyDelete