標題: Rebel China village takes first step in democratic vote [打印本頁] 作者: kimmi8k 時間: 2012-2-2 08:35 AM 標題: 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.% Y! S* S- Q- Q
7 T! B$ d0 D* `+ d/ X. O5.39.217.77:8898Residents 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.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb3 j) H0 k' ?; M* n
, y) e4 ]# d( r a- q8 c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.5.39.217.77:8898- Y+ R8 G4 I! ?) F
$ Z# a) ]4 K, A2 ?# c公仔箱論壇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. ) h- ], r" t8 V公仔箱論壇 ! P# Q! d! }& o8 u8 ?7 {! RBut on Wednesday they were due to openly select an independent election committee that would supervise their first democratic village poll due next month. , X( N1 O$ D3 u5 I4 pTVBNOW 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。tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb+ f; m+ } t4 d5 t2 E! B0 h
"The election committee is being elected to supervise next month's village election," a villager surnamed Chen told AFP by phone. : t0 c" F2 R" @6 ^" D" P( |# @$ btvb now,tvbnow,bttvb 1 I) G& k1 h: H6 T8 d公仔箱論壇"Wukan has never held village elections, this will be the first ever democratic election in Wukan." ' g* ~. F# z4 s - i& r0 u3 Y# o0 T& tZhang Jianxing, a villager close to the local government, added Wednesday's vote was "part of the process to hold open, transparent and fair elections."5 E, y' O# u* |9 L0 L* Z7 w
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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.公仔箱論壇5 V0 z- e/ J5 b. n( g
% e$ m5 k& P" b) oThe concessions won by Wukan residents are seen as a rare victory for protesters in authoritarian China. 7 ]/ E) h3 \6 {5.39.217.77:8898 7 z4 u% n/ t: f. G! Y* otvb 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. 8 f- O/ P/ \& N7 Q3 H! m5.39.217.77:8898 , c: {: m) ~# e( d2 F0 `0 h) Qtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbBut 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.3 f* P) K$ X! `8 C1 `. F1 m' W
. J0 R' w; ^: y, V公仔箱論壇The Guangdong provincial government eventually capitulated as their case made headlines, and decided to intervene on behalf of the villagers.2 k* G* T$ e& [ O) k% |
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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.
