[Editorial] People Are Only Spectators in the People`s Electoral College

The rate of the participants in the competition for the presidential candidacy of the NMDP`s People`s Electoral College was revealed as 85.2 percent in Cheju and 71.4 percent in Wulsan respectively. The College was composed of the NMDP delegates (2): party members (3): ordinary citizens (5) ratio. Seeing that the most party members and delegates participated in the ballot, most of the absentees were the ordinary citizens, that is, `the flower of the People`s Electoral College.` Considering the ratio of the ordinary citizens in the College, the rate of the absentees of the ordinary citizens may reach up 30-50 percent.

In brief, `people` participated in the competition only as spectators. Such result outshines the original intention of the People`s Electoral College to reflect the people`s opinion in the election through voluntary participation of the people. The New Millennium Democratic Party announced that 48,000 people applied for the participation in the Electoral College last month. Taking the number honestly, one out of ten Cheju citizens applied to participate in the Electoral College. 7.3 percent of the total electorates, 49,000 people, applied for the Electoral College in Wulsan. However, the result shows that a considerable number of the electorates, who were selected through over 100:1 competition ratio, in fact did not participate in the vote.

As a result, `the number of the people` who wanted to participate in the Electoral College turned out to be `an imaginary number.` It seems clear that the cause of the imaginary number is the artificial mobilization of supporters by the runners. They had collected anyone to gain any possible vote but the people ignored the vote at the end. Furthermore, the mobilization requires of money. More strict control of the elections is necessary in order to succeed in the competition by the People`s Electoral College system in the following 14 area. It would be considerable to entrust the electoral administration to National Election Commission.

If the pretended People`s Electoral College that obligates the line-ups and the artificial mobilization continues, the new system will end up with tremendous side-effects such as disobedience to the outcome of the competition. It will be no doubt what would be the competitiveness of the elected presidential candidate of the party through such competition. It`s got to be changed right from the next competition.