The National Election Commission announced that a ’10-agendas-delivery ceremony’ would be simultaneously held nationwide on February 24, 100 days before Election Day while making public 10 local agendas that suit circumstances of each Si/Do to invigorate policy-oriented election.

The upcoming delivery ceremony will be co-hosted by 17 Si/Do Election Commissions and the manifesto promotion body in each Si/Do and will be attended by Si/Do parties of the political parties entitled to national subsidies. The 10 agendas of each Si/Do will be presented in the delivery ceremony, which will also be celebrated with various events to create an atmosphere of policy-oriented election.

The NEC formed a manifesto promotion body in each Si/Do last November, composed of academia, the press, civic groups and others to identify local agendas desired by voters and to efficiently promote the spread of policy-oriented election.

p  147 persons from 114 learned societies, media companies and civic groups are currently engaging in activities of the manifesto promotion body in 17 Si/Dos.

The manifesto promotion body collected and analyzed policies and pledges desired by local voters at the request of Si/Do Election Commissions through various methods such as Delphi research, voter-targeted public surveys, debates attended by citizens, etc.

The area voters are interested in most is ‘Regional Economic Vitalization’ (24% of the total 170 agendas of 17 Si/Dos), followed by ‘Balanced Development/Urban Development’ (19%), ‘Healthcare/Welfare’ (18%) and ‘Local Politics/Administration’ (11%).

Although Manifesto Movement was first introduced in local elections held on May 31, 2006 in the form of civic movement, it has been promoted mainly by specific organizations, professionals and others, resulting in relatively low participation of candidates and voters.

Accordingly, the NEC promotes the development of agendas and the spread of policy-oriented election while launching an ‘I Am a Candidate’ space on the website for promoting policies and pledges from February 24, which is expected to provide more opportunities to promote policies and pledges of candidates.

Meanwhile, the NEC is going to host a ‘Policy Suggestion by Voters’ event in March and make public 10 policies of political parties and 5 core pledges of candidates for the head of local government and the Superintendent of Education 30 days before Election Day. This is expected to settle K-Manifesto that is voter-based as well as revitalize communication between candidates and voters.