Vote-buying attempt explodes

A deputy to the local people's congress in Shaoyang, Hunan Province, who failed to win a seat to the provincial people's congress, says he splurged some 320,000 yuan ($51,412) attempting to buy the votes of more than 300 local deputies in the hope of securing his election earlier this month.

Huang Yubiao, a Guangdong-based entrepreneur who is originally from Shaoyang, initially posted details of his attempt to bribe deputies on popular forums including tianya.cn on January 17.

He said he failed to be elected because he did not offer enough money to the deputies.

"Some candidates even priced their vote at 2,000 yuan," Huang told the Global Times on Tuesday, adding that he paid almost half of the deputies 1,000 yuan each.

Huang said he demanded the deputies return the money after his election bid failed.

He also videotaped his conversations with the deputies who returned the cash in order to "collect evidence that I will give to discipline investigators."

Calls to the standing committees of both the Hunan provincial people's congress and the city's anti-corruption body went unanswered as of late Tuesday.

Huang said he planned to offer 3,000 yuan to each of the nine heads of delegations and some 100 city government officials at the local congress.

He gave up that plan fearing he would be found out and instead only offered lower-level deputies 1,000-yuan payoffs.

During the current congress session, 97 local candidates were nominated for 76 provincial seats.

Nominees who received votes from more than half of the 534 incumbent local deputies were elected to the congress, the Guangzhou-based Nandu Daily reported Tuesday.

Huang received 241 votes, 27 votes shy of what he needed.

Huang's initial postings online had been removed Tuesday, but not before it was reported by the newspaper. The election's impartiality came under uproarious questioning from tens of thousands of Sina Weibo users who reposted the newspaper report.

An anonymous official with the Hunan provincial commission for discipline inspection was quoted by the newspaper as saying that part Huang's accusations are true and the city's anti-graft commission is investigating.

Lu Qun, deputy director of the corruption prevention office under the provincial commission, said on his verified Weibo that the provincial people's congress has formed a joint investigation team, and the results will be announced soon.

Election Law stipulates that an election is invalid if any bribery is spotted during the process. Anyone who is involved will face criminal charges.

"I am prepared to face the consequences and accept that my reputation has been tarnished," Huang told the Global Times, adding that he intends to cooperate fully with any investigation.