Scandal-dogged Wukan begins election of new leadership

Working staff carry the ballot box after the village committe election of Wukan Village in Lufeng City, south China's Guangdong Province, March 31, 2014. Thousands of residents of Wukan cast votes to select a seven-member village committee on Monday. Wukan was thrown under the international spotlight in 2011 when its residents staged three waves of large-scale rallies in four months against village officials' alleged illegal land grabs, corruption and violations of financing and election rules. A re-election, hailed as a national tryout of self-governance and a promotion of the spirit of democracy and the rule of law, was held in March 2012. (Xinhua/Lu Hanxin)

Thousands of residents in Wukan Village of south China's Guangdong Province on Monday cast votes for a new leadership, despite torrential rain and a series of recent corruption scandals dogging the local democratic process.

The voting will select a seven-member village committee for the 13,000 residents of Wukan, 9,100 of whom are at or above the age of 18 and are therefore entitled to both vote and hold office.

Monday's voting venue was set up in a village school with rain-proof sheds set up to protect the iron ballot boxes and dozens of wooden ballot booths.

Voting was scheduled to be open from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., followed by an open count of the vote and then an announcement of the election results.

Wukan was thrown under the international spotlight in 2011 when its residents staged three waves of large-scale rallies in four months against village officials' alleged illegal land grabs, corruption and violations of financing and election rules.

A re-election, hailed as a national tryout of self-governance and a promotion of the spirit of democracy and the rule of law, was held in March 2012, appointing Lin Zulian as the head of a new village committee.

However, that did not put an end to the turbulence in Wukan. In April2012, several former officials from the village were expelled from the Communist Party of China over corruption and election-rigging charges.

March of this year saw another local corruption scandal. Yang Semao and Hong Ruichao, who were chosen as deputy chiefs of the village committee in the re-election, were detained by police over allegations that they took bribes concerning public projects in the village.

Over the past two years, more than 5,000 mu (330 hectares) of land determined to have been illegally transferred, allotted, or left idle has been returned to the village. Governments at the provincial and city levels have earmarked tens of millions of yuan for improving villagers' livelihood.

Monday's vote found villagers hopeful about democratic prospects. Huang Yongqing, who works in Shenzhen City some 400 km away, said he came all the way back to cast his vote.

"Only through electing an unselfish leadership can the village step on the right track of development," he said.

Sun Hanliang, supervisor of the election and also a committee member elected in the 2012 re-election, said this round aims at "clearing the old and building the new."

According to Sun, the first and foremost task of the new leadership is to meet the demand of villagers on retrieving land, and to promote the overall development of the village, while "the unity of the leadership is also of great importance."