North Koreans Vote in Rubber-Stamp Parliament Election
Rare Mention of Dissenting Votes Dismissed as Propaganda
Elections Held Every Four to Five Years, but Results Preordained
North Koreans have voted to elect the country's rubber-stamp parliament, the second such election since Kim Jong-un took power. The elections, held on Sunday, were for the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), the country's national legislature. Local People's Assemblies are also elected every four years.
While the results of the elections are preordained, the process serves as an important propaganda tool for the regime. According to the official KCNA news agency, voter turnout was 99.99%, with all candidates receiving unanimous support.
However, in a rare move, KCNA also reported that there were a small number of dissenting votes. Analysts have dismissed this as an attempt by the regime to portray an image of a more open and democratic society.
"It's just propaganda," said Andrei Lankov, a North Korea expert at Kookmin University in Seoul. "There is no real dissent in North Korea. People who vote against the regime's candidates do so at great risk to themselves and their families."
The elections were originally scheduled to be held in March or April 2024, but were delayed or cancelled due to a lack of communication from the government. This raised speculation that the regime was facing internal problems, but there has been no official confirmation of this.
North Korea is one of the most isolated countries in the world, and information about the country is tightly controlled by the government. As a result, it is difficult to know for sure what is happening inside the country.
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