Shamed Wukan seeks new leaders(2)

LONG ROAD AHEAD

The village is faces a rocky road ahead before a good self-governance.

Yang Semao, who was bailed out of jail to help organize the election, confessed that the committee, with little experience or unity, had made mistakes over the past year.

The "deputy's meeting", expected to play a decisive role in village affairs, has never worked smoothly. The meeting of 107 representatives is a crucial procedure in democratic self-governance. Representatives have to attend committee meetings, pass on villagers' suggestions and complaints and keep the villagers informed of decisions made at the meetings.

"But they sometimes got into brawls over the different stands they take, and some even refuse to express their opinions. We need to discuss rather than argue with each other," deputy Zhang Jianxing said.

Despite all this, Monday's vote found villagers hopeful about democratic prospects.

"The election is good. The village committee used to be a bureaucracy, but now people can express their opinions freely," said a villager Zhang Bingquan. "But democracy is not a panacea that will work immediately, more lessons should be drawn from the problems. People's enthusiasm is much higher than I expected."

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 move in the right direction," he said.

Sun Hanliang, supervisor of the election and committee member elected in the 2012 rerun, said this latest vote aims to "clear out the old and build anew".

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

Zheng Jia, Party secretary of Lufeng city, which administrates the village, said the election will pick a capable leadership to meet mounting challenges.

"Majority of people want development. We should trust the new committee and give them to solve the village's problems," Zheng said.