Rebel China village takes first step in democratic vote
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+ l* p& Y1 j4 c, p. |7 i' F! E
/ Y5 e# g1 [/ M# k: \+ u nResidents 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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4 P# | [' H* H ~. w公仔箱論壇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.
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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. |- U# p/ T* ~9 z& h
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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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" T `! I9 s: v! A公仔箱論壇"Wukan has never held village elections, this will be the first ever democratic election in Wukan."
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. w/ o7 P( @$ r, v- t4 t& 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。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."% d! J; M/ S1 Q7 f
" d$ T& P* J- `6 [公仔箱論壇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.! s' a2 |6 n$ u4 r
& n7 s5 S' D$ k5 h- J( qtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbThe concessions won by Wukan residents are seen as a rare victory for protesters in authoritarian China.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。 W3 r2 _- W/ A- ]* e
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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.
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0 _% O& Q8 ^4 {; t1 l0 {' zThe 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。% }# X% f9 g% A, l( k) S
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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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