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.: \1 w1 {$ O, ~4 |
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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.
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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.; x: `7 Z& C7 @; [4 w9 {, y9 U
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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.
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1 i: L# g& y& i$ Y9 MBut on Wednesday they were due to openly select an independent election committee that would supervise their first democratic village poll due next month.
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"The election committee is being elected to supervise next month's village election," a villager surnamed Chen told AFP by phone.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb( L! M3 h+ x& Y! }- O
8 q" {* y2 d8 @5 y1 a/ c5 u6 s5.39.217.76"Wukan has never held village elections, this will be the first ever democratic election in Wukan."
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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."
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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.
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3 r5 ]9 `& @6 [+ ]0 V- k7 }+ }9 ~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。The concessions won by Wukan residents are seen as a rare victory for protesters in authoritarian China.4 h3 R. n7 O1 y: K# F' k6 o$ _7 h* j# U
' J4 F+ L/ F/ D* w公仔箱論壇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.
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- ^( \7 w9 _9 S1 c+ y5.39.217.76But 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.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb7 y$ @9 |8 P' G& g
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The Guangdong provincial government eventually capitulated as their case made headlines, and decided to intervene on behalf of the villagers.# f* o1 C9 L: \; z5 c% {
% {; C$ P" g* x* p. l6 A+ VFollowing 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
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