BEIJING, May 30 (Xinhua) -- China's central
authorities issued a circular here Saturday urging candidates to practice fair
play in direct elections of village heads amid complaints of bribery and other
dirty tricks to win votes.
"The villagers' committee election work in some rural
areas is not properly conducted as bribery situation is grave and seriously
harms the impartiality of election," said the circular jointly issued by the
General Office of the State Council and the General Office of the Communist
Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.
According to the circular, candidates' behaviors must
be "strictly regulated". Punishment ranging from disqualification from election,
removing current post to criminal penalty will be given to those who try to win
votes from villagers with money, violence or intimidation and those who cheat in
vote count.
Villagers have the rights to report any improper
behaviors of the candidates and such reports should be investigated and managed
immediately, the circular said.
"Currently, the country's rural areas are
experiencing fresh reform and farmers' ideas are also undergoing deep changes,"
said the circular." Improving the work of election will help ensure villagers to
practise their rights and develop grass-root democracy."
In addition, government organizations at provincial,
city, county and township levels should set up special departments to regulate
and guarantee the smooth run of village elections.
According to the circular, related organizations are
also urged to "carefully" deal with post-election issues, such as auditing the
work of former villagers' committees, ensuring former committee members' social
welfare and even comforting candidates who lose.
A villagers' committee in China's countryside is a
mass organization of self-management comprising local villagers, usually five
members that manage village affairs.
China has introduced the practice of
self-administration and direct elections at village levels since the Organic Law
of Villagers' Committees was enacted in 1988.
The law, which sets out basic principles to ensure
democracy at a local level, states that any villager aged 18 years or over has
the right to vote or stand as a candidate.
