by Jo Thaek Pom
Rodong Sinmun
July 29, 2007

Pyongyang -- The "freedom" and "democracy" advocated by the imperialists and their mouthpieces are unpopular freedom and democracy as they protect the interests of a handful of exploiting classes only and infringe upon the rights and interests of the overwhelming majority of the toiling masses. This is well illustrated by the hypocritical and unpopular nature of the election system under capitalism.

Election in the capitalist society is unthinkable without money. During the presidential election in 1860 Presidential Candidate Lincoln spent 100,000 dollars, a big amount of money in those days, and during the presidential election campaign in 1952 Eisenhower and his rival were known to have spent a total of 11 million dollars, stunning people. During the presidential election in 1972 two decades later the election funds spent by the Republican and Democratic Parties surpassed one hundred million dollars. The amount of the money spent during the presidential election in 2000 reached 2.5-3 billion dollars, even according to the information released by American media.

The same is the case with Japan.

During a House of Representatives election in Japan candidates each spent the same amount of money as what an ordinary worker had to save for a hundred years without using even a single penny for food and clothes, taking the public by surprise. What was more surprising was that there was rumor that a candidate required 500 million yen to win the election. It is, therefore, something unimaginable for an ordinary worker to be a Dietman in Japan.

The election system under capitalism imposes a lot of restrictions upon the electorate, excluding broad strata of toiling masses from the election, the article notes, and continues:

According to the "election law" in the U.S., a citizen of 18 and above has the right to elect and in case of the Senate a citizen of 30 and above has the right to be elected to it and a citizen of 25 and above has the right to be elected to the House of Representatives. It is said that men and women citizens of 35 and above who have lived for more than 14 years since their birth in the U.S. are eligible to run for presidency. It is stipulated by the "election law" in the U.S. that one has suffrage only when one meets more than 60 conditions including property status, education, period of residence, occupation, race and nationality.

Tens of millions of people are excluded from the election due to various kinds of restrictions including lack of property.

Noting that the election under capitalism is characterized by fraudulence and corruption, the article stresses: All facts go to prove that "equality for all," "freedom" and "democracy" much touted by the imperialists and their mouthpieces are nothing but hypocritical slogans for pulling the wool over the eyes of the toiling masses and covering up the unpopular nature of the capitalist system.

(Summary based on KCNA)

Full text in Korean