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.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。' ^& T0 o: H2 `- b
' Y0 a9 f) a; _# _tvb now,tvbnow,bttvbResidents 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.( j# z' L" l3 @9 f
3 `7 m: s0 h& V# _
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.
" ~$ N- ^- X# g* `3 V8 C+ ~6 a! H; A5.39.217.76* z0 |* D) r- U- ?7 q: r
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.公仔箱論壇- e$ Q8 \6 Y! C8 K4 z
* S3 u* q: b! k) w; L/ h* f$ n公仔箱論壇But on Wednesday they were due to openly select an independent election committee that would supervise their first democratic village poll due next month.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb3 l5 U$ F2 }- E0 s
) B, I" x3 Q C& Y" T1 I; Xtvb now,tvbnow,bttvb"The election committee is being elected to supervise next month's village election," a villager surnamed Chen told AFP by phone.
' B: r& `' b8 ~; Z C# e3 }+ V4 y
& C+ U- @0 G8 o) C$ b1 `2 _6 P5.39.217.76"Wukan has never held village elections, this will be the first ever democratic election in Wukan."
5 F( n2 |1 n/ \; |* {$ V! [公仔箱論壇
, }2 T n+ m, \, b |6 WZhang Jianxing, a villager close to the local government, added Wednesday's vote was "part of the process to hold open, transparent and fair elections."
) a: X2 f! J/ ?5.39.217.765.39.217.76: N5 V) [8 e" O/ v* H9 I
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.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb4 o, ~& Z8 O" A3 R4 [
tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb0 w, a+ |$ w! ~2 u; ^
The concessions won by Wukan residents are seen as a rare victory for protesters in authoritarian China.
& m' C$ |! m1 d5.39.217.768 b, F$ @ c' w, Y6 h& V$ ?. t% k
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.公仔箱論壇' w5 f& R+ b e- u6 ~
0 l" d' O2 u9 { T0 |& K9 v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.
* g) w/ w. o7 x/ }( tTVBNOW 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。 V, `( o4 e+ D; O; |' A8 |
The Guangdong provincial government eventually capitulated as their case made headlines, and decided to intervene on behalf of the villagers.0 q9 B1 U* G g9 I$ w) ~! E2 T! j
tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb; R6 O: V! o: O# Q. P$ N
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
| 