Voters give 100% support to party-named candidates in parliamentary election

SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korean citizens are entitled to a direct, secret
vote in the March 8th parliamentary elections according to the country's
Constitution, but the list of new lawmakers is drawn up by the ruling Workers'
Party that names a single candidate for each electoral district.
Each candidate gets three days to campaign.
Other facts on North Korea's parliamentary election:
-- The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) is required by the Constitution to
announce the election two months ahead of the vote.
-- The ruling Workers' Party sets the number of new assembly members and their
qualification guidelines. The party then appoints single candidates for each
electoral district from the Cabinet, the party, the military and among farmers
and other working-class citizens. Their loyalty to the party and achievements are
critical factors in the selection.
-- The country's top leader Kim Jong-il, a member of the SPA, approves the list
of candidates, who are then officially registered three days before the vote.
-- The voting age is 17. Each electoral district has a designated population of
30,000 citizens.
-- According to the Constitution, voters pick a candidate by drawing a horizontal
line on the names of other candidates. In practice, however, they simply mark yes
or no because there is only one candidate.
-- In the last elections in August 2003, which was the 11th, North Korean media
said 99.9 percent of eligible voters voted and they "elected all the registered
candidates with 100 percent approval." In 1998, 99.85 percent voted and gave 100
percent approval.
-- Lawmakers have a five-year term. A new assembly re-elects leader Kim Jong-il
as chairman of the National Defense Commission, the backbone of North Korea's
1.1-million-strong military. Kim's reappointment may prompt a military shakeup. A
Cabinet reshuffle may also follow.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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