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.# @7 g0 S$ | p# m
$ {: q1 s, w, i; b0 qResidents 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.5.39.217.76( e! ?% t0 D h* i n
0 P3 D6 w& s$ d: F' I4 y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.5 }/ f3 A$ h4 p& U& G& q
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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.% p% R) {0 u3 D
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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.5.39.217.763 b' D$ V( l6 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.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb _3 N% |- `6 k# W( [
: k! M7 }" z3 D6 y% a% Q5.39.217.76"Wukan has never held village elections, this will be the first ever democratic election in Wukan."0 l% e+ T/ T" V# @- O/ U
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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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% @6 H; g0 g4 W4 W5.39.217.76The 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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: o+ k- j3 n- Q D- E$ CThe concessions won by Wukan residents are seen as a rare victory for protesters in authoritarian China.
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/ H- @. B1 f; y% G; {tvb now,tvbnow,bttvbThey 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,bttvb% |7 i( L' w% r: Z) S( E7 D/ i9 x3 R
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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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" \+ s7 i: ?% c" V: I& _tvb now,tvbnow,bttvbThe Guangdong provincial government eventually capitulated as their case made headlines, and decided to intervene on behalf of the villagers.公仔箱論壇% @9 i6 z& u! R* T5 M: C
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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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