Thanks to the decade-long practice of village self-governance,
villagers across China's rural areas are able to select their own
magistrates and dismiss unqualified officials who fail to do their
duty.
That was the conclusion drawn from an official probe of the
system.
Supervisors from the Standing Committee of the National People's
Congress (NPC) published their investigation of the system for
the first time in Beijing Thursday.
The probe began in June of this year. NPC-authorized investigators
conducted a check on the self-governing system in nine areas
including Shandong, Fujian, Hainan, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Henan and
Yunnan provinces.
Also included were Guangxi Zhuang and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous
regions.
The investigation found that the concept of self-governing has been
hailed by residents in rural areas, said Gu Jinchi, vice-chairman
of NPC Internal and Judicial Committee.
Out of the 48 villages investigated in the nine areas, no less than
90 percent of people participated in elections for village
leaders.
A
conference discussing the findings heard that villages in 31
provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions have adopted this
democratic election system.
China introduced the self-governing system in 1988 among villages
across the nation. Under the system, local administrative officials
are elected by residents.
Previously, village officials were appointed by county-level
governments.
(China
Daily 08/24/2001)