No leniency to vote-buying

We have heard of vote-buying in village leader elections in rural communities. We have seen sporadic exposs of vote-buying on various other balloting occasions. But vote-buying at such a level and on such a scale and with such effrontery has no precedence in our memory.

Most outrageous of all, it occurred within the highest local organ of power. It is a barbaric gang rape of our national laws by local lawmakers. It is a naked assault on the country's fundamental political design the People's Congress system - which has devastating consequences for public confidence in the system.

All but nine of the 527 deputies of the 14th People's Congress of Hengyang attending their very first full session accepted bribes before voting to select the city's delegates to the provincial legislature. Three others were in "serious dereliction of duty".