China has published new draft rules for village elections, allowing villagers to fire officials who don't perform as promised.
When village elections were rolled out nationwide in 1998, to improve local officials' responsiveness to local concerns, some Chinese reformers hoped they would open the door to democracy in rural townships and urban districts.
However, elections have been frozen at the most basic level. The new rules allow for one-fifth of villagers with voting rights, or one-third of village representatives, to impeach a village chief, according to the draft published on the legislature's website. He or she would be dismissed if a majority of those attending a meeting made up of at least half the village vote to do so.
The draft also calls for more transparent accounting. Some Chinese reformers who had high hopes for elections were disappointed that once in power, an elected chief tended to remain in power, with abuses like vote buying and intimidation reported in the Chinese press. Some also worry that the system benefits already powerful village clans.
On the positive side, many credit the elections with helping rationalise local decision-making and allowing more local input on decisions that directly concern villagers. Power at the county level and above still remains firmly in the hands of the Communist Party of China, which books no opposition.
Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Friday, for his writings and authorshop of the Charter 08 manifesto, which called for civil rights and multiparty elections in China. Comments on the draft regulation are due by Jan 31, 2010.
