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Voices and Votes: Electoral law amendment

2010-03-09 20:59 BJT

Special Report: 2010 NPC & CPPCC Sessions |

Lawmakers are discussing a new amendment to the Electoral Law, granting equal representation in the National People's Congress.

Lawmakers convened Monday morning in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Each one of them has a draft amendment to the Electoral Law's third reading.

The Electoral Law was first enacted in 1953 and completely revised in 1979. It then underwent four minor changes.

After the last amendment in 1995, the law stipulated that each rural deputy represented a population four times that of an urban deputy. Critics say this can be interpreted as "farmers only enjoying a quarter of the suffrage of their urban compatriots."

The latest draft amendment calls for more representation of rural population in electing NPC deputies, due to the fast urbanization process.

Wang Zhaoguo, vice-chairman of NPC Standing Committee, said, "Since 1995, China's industrialization and urbanization has rapidly accelerated. This has led to an improvement in people's cultural, social and economic well being. The urban population in China has increased from nearly 30 percent in 1995 to over 46 percent in 2009."

According to the vice-Chairman, the new changes to the Electoral Law are set to accomplish three objectives.
 
Wang Zhaoguo said, "One, to guarantee the equal right of all citizens to vote. Two, to guarantee the equal right of all localities to participate in the organs of state power. Three, to guarantee an appropriate number of deputies for every ethnic group."

The latest draft amendment also includes articles granting more transparency in the election of NPC deputies and anti-corruption mechanisms. For example, it stipulates that candidates and electors should have more face-to-face contact and the election process should be subject to supervision.

The number of deputies in the National People's Congress is limited to 3-thousand. After passing the amendment, the NPC Standing Committee will decide the exact population a lawmaker should represent.

Editor: James | Source: CCTV.com