Step in right direction

It is a step forward on the road to a democratic process of selecting government officials if we let candidates for official positions demonstrate their competence before the public.

Nanjing, capital city of east China's Jiangsu province, took that step on Thursday by convening a meeting, where 16 candidates for four municipal government bureau director positions delivered their statements and answered questions.

We cannot say how much difference their statements - delivered for 10 minutes, and answering two questions for five minutes - will make to their landing of the posts. But the fact the meeting was broadcast live by local television and broadcast stations and Internet portals made it a chance for candidates to appear before the public, which has never been done before in the country.