China votes to pick lawmakers
Source: Xinhua |
May 8, 2011, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
ELECTIONS for lawmakers at the county- and township-levels began in China yesterday. The elections grant equal representation in legislative bodies to rural and urban citizens for the first time.
More than two million lawmakers at the county- and township-levels will be elected during the nationwide polls, which is held every five years, in more than 2,000 counties and 30,000 townships, according to figures provided by the National People's Congress Standing Committee, the top legislature.
These are the first elections after the Electoral Law amendments were adopted in March 2010 that require both rural and urban areas to adopt the same ratio of deputies to the represented population in elections of people's congress deputies.
The previous electoral law stipulated that each rural deputy represented a population four times that of an urban deputy, which was interpreted as "farmers only enjoy one-quarter of the suffrage of their urban counterparts."
More than 900 million people will vote for lawmakers at the county level, and more than 600 million citizens will vote for township level candidates.
Election organizers have been advised to follow the principle of "each deputy representing roughly the same population in a constituency." They should also safeguard the electoral rights of the country's 200 million migrant population, who either register in their hometown or in the cities they migrate to.
Efforts will also be made to ensure the elections have broad representation, especially to increase the ratio of workers, farmers, professionals, technicians and women.
More than two million lawmakers at the county- and township-levels will be elected during the nationwide polls, which is held every five years, in more than 2,000 counties and 30,000 townships, according to figures provided by the National People's Congress Standing Committee, the top legislature.
These are the first elections after the Electoral Law amendments were adopted in March 2010 that require both rural and urban areas to adopt the same ratio of deputies to the represented population in elections of people's congress deputies.
The previous electoral law stipulated that each rural deputy represented a population four times that of an urban deputy, which was interpreted as "farmers only enjoy one-quarter of the suffrage of their urban counterparts."
More than 900 million people will vote for lawmakers at the county level, and more than 600 million citizens will vote for township level candidates.
Election organizers have been advised to follow the principle of "each deputy representing roughly the same population in a constituency." They should also safeguard the electoral rights of the country's 200 million migrant population, who either register in their hometown or in the cities they migrate to.
Efforts will also be made to ensure the elections have broad representation, especially to increase the ratio of workers, farmers, professionals, technicians and women.
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