12th Supreme People's Assembly
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All 687 seats to the Supreme People's Assembly |
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Parliamentary elections in North Korea, creating the 12th Supreme People's Assembly, were held on 8 March 2009. They were originally scheduled to be held in August 2008 but were postponed for unknown reasons. Observers of North Korea speculated that it was in relation to Kim Jong-il's ill health.
All candidates standing in the elections in North Korea were members of one of the parties comprising the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland. A single candidate, approved by the North-Korean leadership, ran in each of the 687 districts, thereby guaranteeing a full victory by the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland, regardless of voter turnout.Kim Jong-il, the de facto leader of North Korea and the Chairman of the National Defence Commission, ran for election in Constituency 333.
The 11th Supreme People's Assembly was dissolved and elections were called for North Korea's 687 electoral districts on January 7, 2009. The elections were to be originally held as per North Korea's constitution in August 2008.
The delay was not officially explained, but was believed to be related to the health of Kim Jong-il. The elections also come after a significant cabinet shuffle in recent months that saw the replacement of at least five members of cabinet. The elections were called for March 8, 2009 allowing leave for a 60-day campaign period.
After dissolution, nominating committees in all 687 districts nominated Kim Jong-il to stand for election. The 333rd district was the first to file their nomination, so he decided to run in that district. In the previous assembly, Kim Jong-il represented the 649th election district.
Voter registration was conducted by the Resident Registration Bureaus of the National Security Agency. Completing the voters lists also had the side effect to discover missing residents who may have defected and left the country. Allegations have surfaced of bribes paid to officials conducting registration drives to declare family members who have defected as being deceased. The voter registration deadline for the election took place on March 4, 2009.
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Wikipedia