CHINA: Pushing the boundaries of China's grassroots democracy, a fishing village in the country's south has successfully elected a new leader in a symbolic poll

Record ID: 327701

  • Title: CHINA: Pushing the boundaries of China's grassroots democracy, a fishing village in the country's south has successfully elected a new leader in a symbolic poll
  • Date: 4th March 2012
  • Summary: WUKAN, GUANGDONG PROVINCE, CHINA (MARCH 3, 2012) (REUTERS) **CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY** BALLOT BOX BEING UNSEALED AND EMPTIED VOTING SLIPS ON GROUND PHOTOGRAPHER ELECTION STAFF SORTING OUT VOTING SLIPS ELECTION STAFF VOTING SLIPS VOTES BEING COUNTED AND TABULATED ELECTIONS STAFF CALLING OUT NAME OF CANDIDATES SELECTED ON VOTING SLIPS ELECTION STAFF TABULATION RESULTS ON A BOARD ELECTION RESULTS ON BOARD VILLAGE ELECTION COMMITTEE ON STAGE TO ANNOUNCE ELECTION RESULTS HEAD OF VILLAGE ELECTION COMMITTEE ANNOUNCING VILLAGE PARTY SECRETARY LIN ZULUAN BEING VOTED IN AS VILLAGE CHIEF PEOPLE TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS LIN MAKING SPEECH (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 67-YEAR-OLD LIN ZULUAN, PARTY SECRETARY OF WUKAN VILLAGE, SAYING: "Today's election is valid and this is our success and our victory." VILLAGERS APPLAUDING REPORTERS SURROUNDING LIN (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 67-YEAR-OLD LIN ZULUAN, PARTY SECRETARY OF WUKAN VILLAGE, SAYING: "I will work hard to do well in all the different kinds of assignments. Thank you." REPORTERS SURROUNDING LIN
  • Embargoed: 19th March 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China, China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAARQEQFZJRNI2MQUZLOPVYXW9R
  • Story Text: Residents of a southern Chinese village on Saturday (March 3) elected a reformist leader to run a new administrative authority in a vote that many are hailing as a model for greater grassroots democracy in China.
    The local poll in the fishing village of Wukan came after an uncompromising standoff over land grabs and abuse of power.
    Nestled on the Guangdong coast with a picturesque harbour flanked by hills, Wukan, has emerged from nowhere as a symbol of rural activism and electoral reforms nationwide, embracing rare freedoms granted by provincial authorities in December to defuse a major flashpoint.
    Spilling into a school festooned with red banners, some 6,800 residents cast their pink ballots for a seven-person village committee.
    Many backed former protest leaders, including some jailed by authorities in December.
    Lin Zuluan (pronounciation: lin zoo-looann), a respected village elder and a chief organiser of the civil movement in Wukan, won 6,205 votes in a landslide victory for village chief, validating village confidence in his pledges to win back illegally sold farmland.
    "Today's election is valid and this is our success and our victory," Lin said, addressing a cheering crowd and journalists gathered at night to hear the final results, with a turnout rate of nearly 80 percent.
    Another protest leader Yang Semao was elected deputy village chief, while the five other seats will be filled in a run-off on Sunday (March 4) that many expect to see a new guard of activists and reformists under Lin, secure majority control of the committee.
    The polls were wrought after a months-long struggle that saw villagers clash with riot police, ransack government offices, expel a corrupt old guard and form a self-administrative authority.
    It all came to a head in December, when villagers barricaded themselves in against riot police.
    Guangdong authorities, led by ambitious Communist Party leader Wang Yang, intervened, naming Lin as party secretary and allowing fresh village polls in surprisingly liberal concessions Unlike the many flareups over land grabs and corruption across China every year, Wukan residents managed to move beyond organised protest to organised politics in a gritty bid to win back illegally sold farmland and safeguard future rights.
    While village elections have been permitted for decades, Wukan has pushed the boundaries, with Lin and a vanguard of young activists able to unify the village against higher authorities.
    "I will work hard to do well in all the different kinds of assignments. Thank you," Lin told journalists after the announcement.
    The seven-member village committee will now have power over local finances and the sale and apportioning of collectively owned village land.
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