For the first time since the early 1960s, dissenting voices from North Korea's ruling Workers' Party were recorded in local elections, which took place on Sunday (November 26th). "Of the voters who took part in the election, 99.91 percent voted for the candidates of the provincial people's congresses" and "99.87 percent voted for the candidates of the city and county people's congresses," the regime's official news agency, KCNA, said on Tuesday.
Through this absurd communication and transparency operation, the pariah country, ruled with an iron fist by the general secretary of the Workers' Party Kim Jong-un, is trying to "strengthen [its] legitimacy and authenticity on the world stage," the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada analyzes in a report. "This approach goes beyond internal political restructuring and extends to the construction of an international narrative, seeking to reshape perceptions of North Korea as a progressive, albeit misunderstood, country," the think tank continues.
Green Urn, Red Urn
To vote, voters had the choice of slipping their ballot into two ballot boxes. One green, to endorse the party's candidate. Another, red, to reject it. "Voters suffering from aging or illness cast their ballot in mobile ballot boxes," the regime's media outlet added. 0.09% and 0.13% voted against the candidates selected for the provincial and municipal councils respectively.
Reporting the results of the election, the official media of the communist dictatorship announced a turnout of 99.63% - in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, participation is compulsory... "Those who were unable to participate in the vote because they were on tour abroad or working in the oceans amounted to 0.37% and abstentions amounted to 0.000078%," writes KNCA. This is lower than in 2019 when the latter was 99.98%, notes Reuters.
Several candidates chosen by the Party
According to a South Korean Unification Ministry official quoted anonymously by The Korea Times, the communist regime "may have manipulated" the turnout figure "in order to give the impression that the elections were free elections." For the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, "this decrease could rather indicate a slight weakening of state control." "In response, authorities could intensify internal surveillance by tracking absentees and those who travel without permission," the report adds.
Held every four years, the elections were the first since the country revised its electoral law in August 2023 to allow multiple candidates to run. But the latter are carefully chosen by the ruling party. At the end of the election, 27,858 "workers, peasants, intellectuals and civil servants became deputies" of the various assemblies, reports KNCA.
Mock elections
These electoral sham are nothing more than formalities that look like a great patriotic celebration. On social media, a video of the world's youngest dictator arriving at the Ryongsong compound in Hamhung City to cast his vote amid cheers from his compatriots.
"When the respected comrade Kim Jong-un arrived at the polling booth, the workers at the complex were delighted to see him at their workplace on the important day of the election... The workers of the complex and the residents of Hamhung City were filled with an ardent enthusiasm to fulfill their civic duty," KNCA reports. The next elections, this time national, will take place in March 2024.