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.
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. S0 x/ r* }: tResidents 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" f. o- R! ~& e0 w2 |# ]
5 p- n8 p/ |$ j% i7 d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.( P6 i3 b- Q- o8 j
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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.5.39.217.76; R( N0 l: V# B+ U; \+ w9 `' ?
9 ^! \" K( }. A( t Y+ u& X5.39.217.76"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: q! S# P9 Y2 R2 ]% y0 v+ h4 M, ?" k
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"Wukan has never held village elections, this will be the first ever democratic election in Wukan." ~6 P& r4 m' x# J7 }" N
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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."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。! A% H v7 K! c* ~: ], S
6 o) o- @6 }% v7 B/ ]5.39.217.76The 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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The concessions won by Wukan residents are seen as a rare victory for protesters in authoritarian China.公仔箱論壇& e6 A( ^7 X2 x$ h2 d- k' d
4 y: Z* H5 o; d' JTVBNOW 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.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。: s! X8 s( I. O
! m& X' B+ m, J |3 _( y- |! ^公仔箱論壇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.5.39.217.769 @& i& P$ z9 z7 X8 d) c
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The 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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