"Six yuan for tax notebook, nine yuan for gummed tape, 15 yuan
for steel wire", reads on a bulletin board of Baigezhuang village,
Shunyi District of Beijing.
"All the expenses of our village in the past year have been made
public on bulletin boards," said secretary of the village. "Village
affairs should be transparent, the open democracy' shown on the
bulletin board is not complete, democracy in people's heart is the
real one."
The democracy in people's heart mentioned by the secretary is
embodied in the villagers' committee election. Though the village
has only 300 residents, many of them are enthusiastic for each
year's election.
The first round of election is to choose candidates for the
villagers' committee by way of secret ballot. After thorough
consideration, villagers will vote for the most qualified and
respected ones.
The most satisfied village chief will finally be selected after
rounds of elections. After that, a supervision group composed of
three qualified, capable villagers will be formed to monitor the
village's affairs in finance or other matters.
"Since we are living a relatively better life, villagers are
more enthusiastic for the election, "said the secretary.
Wangshihe in Junan County in east China's
Shandong Province is a small and remote village. It has no more
than 80 residents.
In recent years, the quiet village has experienced some changes:
roads are paved to doorsteps, cable TVs are equipped in each family
and road lights are installed.
Wang Wenhua is a well-off pig raiser in the village. He made
700,000 Yuan (nearly US$90 thousand) last year by selling pigs.
"Since we live a good life, more and more villagers are keen to
participate in the election." Wang said.
"But people were not very willing to participate in the election
in the past when life was hard." said Zhang Chengmei, the female
secretary of the village.
"In villagers' eyes, no matter who was the head, life would be
the same. But now it is different, people are living a relatively
wealthy life, they are more interested in the election because they
want to select a person who can really make a difference and lead
them to live an all-around well-off life," xplained Zhang.
Rural democracy also needs to be
sustainable
Since a supervision team for villagers' committee election was
set up in the county of Yishui in Shandong Province by villagers
themselves, no violation has ever occurred in the elections.
"The supervision team is spontaneously organized by villagers,
members of the team were selected by secret ballots. The team is
responsible for all villagers," said head of the organization
department of the village.
"Cultivating democratic culture is very important, so is the
process," said Wang Jinhua, chief of Rural Affairs Department of
Ministry of Civil Affairs.
"By 2006, some 615,000 villagers committees have realized
self-governance. But some problems emerged in the process of
democratization, such as the procedure for recalling cadres," said
Wang.
According to the rules, if one fifth of villagers object village
cadres, impeachment procedure should be carried out. But
impeachment is quite complicated, sufficient reasons must be given
besides a village conference to be held.
China has revised the Organic Law on Villagers Committees in
view of some problems in the process of democratic construction in
China's rural areas. Many scholars and experts have proposed for
the revision.?
"Democratic construction in China's rural areas also needs to be
sustainable," said Wang Jianjun from Ministry of Civil Affairs.
Wang also reiterated that related departments should faithfully
fulfill their duty of serving the people and taking care of those
in need.
(People's Daily March 24, 2006)