BEIJING - Villagers in China whose rebellion against local officials last year grabbed the headlines kicked off a key process on Wednesday that will see them hold their first-ever open, democratic elections.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。% N4 }( _& x( N5 O+ a
5.39.217.76; e5 L L$ K4 |& N3 q2 X8 i
Residents in Wukan in the wealthy southern province of Guangdong won rare concessions after they faced off with authorities for more than a week in December in a row over land and graft, including pledges to hold free village polls.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb% e, |# `) s% E D! ^' J
5.39.217.76; L5 l7 F k+ F9 v
China - a one-party state where top leaders are not elected by the people - nevertheless allows villagers across the country to vote for a committee to represent them.公仔箱論壇; _( f6 h! t1 J7 b8 e
$ F/ B$ l7 b) {5 } ^ r
But Wukan residents said their leaders had never before allowed these polls to go ahead in an open fashion, and instead selected members of the village committee behind closed doors.+ U& u6 b' x7 Y Y
: A% [/ s) R# y5 OBut on Wednesday they were due to openly select an independent election committee that would supervise their first democratic village poll due next month.5.39.217.76+ H; P. ~: s0 j$ |( V% H. D
( ~+ x U: D' V9 W% n7 w. d1 m6 s公仔箱論壇"The election committee is being elected to supervise next month's village election," a villager surnamed Chen told AFP by phone.公仔箱論壇2 X$ B( G; M, L" W" {
' D6 H9 M6 Y V) \2 ]9 b; F
"Wukan has never held village elections, this will be the first ever democratic election in Wukan."tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb1 H5 I# q7 X; y% C8 J w, D
' o, L+ L' n* ^& Q/ t7 o
Zhang Jianxing, a villager close to the local government, added Wednesday's vote was "part of the process to hold open, transparent and fair elections."公仔箱論壇# O; F6 `6 S; F9 @- k* L
tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb+ ?3 W, [, M: N: i3 T& ~
The election committee will be made up of 11 villagers who will not be allowed to run for next month's election, according to the official Xinhua news agency.公仔箱論壇: W0 z: }# D7 d4 a: Q
: i" C, J* w y0 W _ ^7 j7 r公仔箱論壇The concessions won by Wukan residents are seen as a rare victory for protesters in authoritarian China.公仔箱論壇9 ~; U9 `( {8 ?3 b: n
公仔箱論壇 ~# m9 t" g7 M
They had protested for months in autumn last year against their allegedly corrupt leaders, whom they accused of abusing their power to profit from land in the village.( {! O3 ?& T( Y1 B& b: y5 T
- _7 a# D+ G3 |. {! E6 u( r公仔箱論壇But it was not until detained community leader Xue Jinbo died in police custody in December after allegedly being beaten that their anger boiled over, prompting a tense, drawn-out stand-off with police and officials.
{3 ]" v3 F* l# K5 R
8 R0 ^' V4 M9 J Q8 t/ D% `* \The Guangdong provincial government eventually capitulated as their case made headlines, and decided to intervene on behalf of the villagers.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb0 g) `% V7 _8 q; Q* W
3 N$ t% d8 z7 v, y Htvb now,tvbnow,bttvbFollowing investigations into corruption, the government conceded that villagers' grievances were reasonable and that closed elections for village leaders last year were invalid. |
發表於 2012-2-2 08:35 AM
| 