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.8 r, r1 \, j2 W0 q, c
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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.- j9 g/ S, B/ R+ ^
7 }& r% T( Z( C0 o. dBut 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.' _2 E& {0 T$ I8 @* A1 }4 \( u6 y3 v
! ?7 n6 n @1 b( gBut 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.
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"Wukan has never held village elections, this will be the first ever democratic election in Wukan."
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3 {6 M5 o5 L% YZhang Jianxing, a villager close to the local government, added Wednesday's vote was "part of the process to hold open, transparent and fair elections."
; E9 [* o* W7 P1 M; bTVBNOW 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。
& W& H) |4 k" [& ~& F" u' [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 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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The concessions won by Wukan residents are seen as a rare victory for protesters in authoritarian China.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb2 V6 F0 s/ G0 u+ t8 P3 E7 }% w
. J7 _$ [( |/ _9 RTVBNOW 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。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.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb1 @% w& k1 ?: Y$ W. O- k1 J
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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.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。9 [+ P) E3 P- z' u& }0 ]% r0 m; T/ W
9 _# ?% f6 u2 a" ]& p* S" C: Rtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbThe Guangdong provincial government eventually capitulated as their case made headlines, and decided to intervene on behalf of the villagers.
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Following 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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