Protest village casts vote as leadership election begins
Source: Xinhua/Shanghai Daily |
February 2, 2012, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Thousands of residents in the southern Chinese village of Wukan, known for recent massive protests regarding illegal land use and other issues, saw the start of an election for new leadership yesterday after the former village heads were removed.
More than 6,000 villagers streamed into a school amid brilliant sunshine. The open-air election was held in a courtyard before a red election banner as patriotic songs blared from speakers.
At the end of polling, villagers burned unused ballot papers and clapped in jubilation at a largely orderly and trouble-free poll with a turnout well over 80 percent.
"This far exceeded our expectations," said Yang Semao, a village elder who helped officiate. "It shows our passion for democracy."
An open count of the votes was being held and was expected to last until after midnight.
Earlier, Xue Jianwan, daughter of protest organizer Xue Jinbo, who died in police custody last year sparking further protests, visited her father's memorial in the village square before voting. His body has yet to be returned by authorities.
"This is something my father would have hoped for," she said, bursting into tears after casting her ballot. "We just want to do our best to fulfil his final wishes."
The voting will result in the selection of an independent election committee to supervise upcoming rounds of voting for villagers' representatives and a new village committee.
Those who applied for election committee candidacy were first required to get signatures from at least 50 voters, and the 11 villagers who will eventually make up the election committee will not be allowed to run for the village committee.
On September 21 and 22 last year, villagers in Wukan, which is administered by the city of Lufeng in Guangdong Province, began to protest over issues related to land use, financing and the election of village officials, with large-scale protests in the village in November.
Villagers gathered again on December 11 after Xue Jinbo, suspected of organizing the November demonstrations, died in police custody.
Officials in charge of handling the village unrest have conceded that the major demands of the residents were reasonable and local officials made "mistakes."
More than 6,000 villagers streamed into a school amid brilliant sunshine. The open-air election was held in a courtyard before a red election banner as patriotic songs blared from speakers.
At the end of polling, villagers burned unused ballot papers and clapped in jubilation at a largely orderly and trouble-free poll with a turnout well over 80 percent.
"This far exceeded our expectations," said Yang Semao, a village elder who helped officiate. "It shows our passion for democracy."
An open count of the votes was being held and was expected to last until after midnight.
Earlier, Xue Jianwan, daughter of protest organizer Xue Jinbo, who died in police custody last year sparking further protests, visited her father's memorial in the village square before voting. His body has yet to be returned by authorities.
"This is something my father would have hoped for," she said, bursting into tears after casting her ballot. "We just want to do our best to fulfil his final wishes."
The voting will result in the selection of an independent election committee to supervise upcoming rounds of voting for villagers' representatives and a new village committee.
Those who applied for election committee candidacy were first required to get signatures from at least 50 voters, and the 11 villagers who will eventually make up the election committee will not be allowed to run for the village committee.
On September 21 and 22 last year, villagers in Wukan, which is administered by the city of Lufeng in Guangdong Province, began to protest over issues related to land use, financing and the election of village officials, with large-scale protests in the village in November.
Villagers gathered again on December 11 after Xue Jinbo, suspected of organizing the November demonstrations, died in police custody.
Officials in charge of handling the village unrest have conceded that the major demands of the residents were reasonable and local officials made "mistakes."
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
