Kazakh student witnesses democracy

TAIYUAN－Kazakh student Arailym Shpekbayeva recently witnessed a grassroots election in North China's Shanxi province.

The election saw Dazhai village, located on the Loess Plateau, elect its leadership for the next five years, and Shpekbayeva said she was impressed by the spirit of Chinese-style democracy it revealed.

Shpekbayeva, a postgraduate applied mechanics student at Taiyuan University of Technology in Shanxi's provincial capital, has been living in China for four years. She said she was "lucky" to have seen the election proceedings in the village, and was intrigued after she learned about Dazhai's iconic role in China's development.

Dazhai was called a national "pacesetter village" in agriculture in the 1960s, with Mao Zedong calling on all people in rural China to learn from its farming experience. Dazhai's high-yielding terrace farming on barren hillsides was seen as a symbol of victory over natural hurdles.

On polling day, Nov 10, Dazhai residents began arriving at the village committee office, which was temporarily designated as the polling booth, from 8:30 am.

After registration, the number of eligible voters aged above 18 came in at 447. Each voter was given three ballots－one for director of the village committee, one for its deputy director and the other for three members.

Before election day, eight candidates had been selected through a preliminary process to contest the positions. The voters only had to tick off their preferred choices from the candidate list on the ballot.

Shpekbayeva noticed that some eligible voters were absent, and was told by a staff member that some elderly and disabled villagers were unable to come to the polling station. However, after the on-site vote, sealed ballot boxes would be carried to absent voters' houses to make sure every vote counted.

"This democratic election is an example of grassroots governance," Shpekbayeva said.

The polling ended and after ballot counting, the incumbent head of the village committee, Jia Chunsheng, was reelected. Expressing his gratitude to the villagers for their trust in him, Jia said he would continue to work hard to serve the villagers and lead them to better lives.

Song Liying, 92, voted from home.

"Our village started to set up village-owned companies in the 1990s," she said. "We have been living better lives with sustainable development. The success is due to the efforts made by our village committee."

People in Dazhai no longer rely solely on farming for their livelihoods as the region has become a popular tourism destination. Its scenic beauty has attracted about 10 million visitors over the years.

Hao Miaomiao, a 26-year-old member of the village branch of the Communist Party of China, told Shpekbayeva that after obtaining her postgraduate degree in June, she found a job in the Party branch in Dazhai through a talent exchange program.

She said she believed young people like her could introduce new ideas for rural development.

"I feel I lack work experience in addressing practical tasks in the village, so I need to keep learning," Hao said.

Thanks to the development of ecotourism, the economic output of Dazhai exceeded 23 million yuan ($3.6 million) last year, with per capita income reaching 26,000 yuan.

"Through my observations in the village, the Chinese form of grassroots self-governance has spurred villagers' enthusiasm for self-management, decision-making and common development," Shpekbayeva said.

Xinhua