More than 3,000 villagers living at the foot of the Great Wall were kept busy over the weekend voting for their village head. It took three ballots before a winner was finally declared.
About 80 kilometers from downtown Beijing, Xiwengzhuang village of Miyun County started a direct election for village leader last Friday--the first for a Beijing village.
Nearly 4,000 villages in the suburbs of Beijing will hold elections by the end of July, reported Xinhua news agency.
In Friday's election, Yang Derong, 57, beat Hou Dongsheng by 102 votes.
Yang, a member of the Communist Party of China, has been the appointed village head for four three-year terms. Hou complained to the village Party secretary that the election was unfair because an elder brother of Yang and the wives of Yang's two nephews were working on the electoral committee, which is forbidden by law.
Thirty-seven-year-old Hou, a non-Party member, is a typical farmer with a middle school education. He said he ignored the issue at first because it was the first direct balloting he had experienced.
However, he complained after gaining support from other villagers. Hou's objection was accepted. The representatives re-appointed the electoral committee, replacing Yang's relatives with other villagers.
On Saturday afternoon, villagers gathered together to vote for the second time. This time Hou won by 32 votes over Yang. However, Hou failed to win at least half of the ballots cast and the results were declared invalid.
The third election was held the next day. Hou won again, and this time more than half of the voters cast their ballots for him.
Township officials went to the village on Tuesday and validated the result of the third election. A simple handover was held.
Yang, from winner to loser, said he regretted not carefully studying election laws in advance. He admitted that Hou is younger and better educated, though he did not congratulate Hou in person.
Yang received a primary school education.
Hou said that if his suggestion had not been accepted, he would have appealed to the township government and if necessary, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, which oversees grassroots elections.
Experimental direct election for village heads was initiated in 1988 to replace appointments and to reflect the will of farmers.
(Eastday.com.cn 03/29/2001)
