Government and Policy

Law amendment to give rural residents more power

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-06-22 17:07

A villager casts a vote during a local election of the villagers' committee at Xiwangping Village in Beijing's Mentougou District June 18, 2010. [Photo/Agencies ]

BEIJING - Draft amendments to a law designed to give rural residents greater say in village affairs were submitted to China's top legislature for their second reading Tuesday.

The draft amendments to the Organic Law of Villagers' Committees gives rural people greater powers to remove village committee members and to convene meetings to decide village affairs.

Villagers are entitled to report to legislatures and governments at county and township levels misconduct in the election of village committees, according to the draft.

Governments at county and township levels are obliged to correct decisions made by village committees if they are illegal or encroach upon villagers' interests, the draft said.

The draft amendments also allows villagers to vote by proxy by entrusting a family member to vote for them, in case of absence during a village committee election.

The law affects China's 900 million rural residents and focuses on democratic procedure and electoral and recall procedures for village committee members.

The draft law was first reviewed at its first reading in December 2009.

China has more than 2 million villages and 604,000 village committees.

More than 95 percent of village committees have held direct elections since the current law took effect in 1998, with most having held more than seven elections.