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.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb w% K! y ~* y9 Z% G
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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.2 i9 a6 I, i! }2 c; j* A
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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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But 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.公仔箱論壇8 t/ ~2 A* Q* s1 f4 e) x2 B- n
" a4 o" P2 c. |; n% T" u9 W* }5 Q"Wukan has never held village elections, this will be the first ever democratic election in Wukan."tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb, ?& v9 z7 X. k& I+ Q
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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."5.39.217.76% c" o7 D/ Q- x9 w, _2 b
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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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2 r" b' T4 z5 n3 m$ e$ kTVBNOW 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.公仔箱論壇6 m7 B9 F* i5 S; @% |
) v" B* m% P! y# |, p1 Q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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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.公仔箱論壇' k% I' @3 h0 ~; f: \) N: |
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The Guangdong provincial government eventually capitulated as their case made headlines, and decided to intervene on behalf of the villagers.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。0 @6 e9 t/ K( o* a1 P* b. O0 j
' _3 F4 L7 ~0 y9 ~- u. Qtvb 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
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