China told citizens yesterday not to run for local legislatures as independents, tightening reins on activists who have sought to challenge the Chinese Communist Party’s grip on grassroots government.
The warning, which came from an unnamed official of the party-controlled National People’s Congress (NPC), was in response to a small but spreading online campaign by dozens who hope to fight for seats on local legislatures with no endorsement from the party.
It was another sign that party leaders want tight political controls as they ready for a succession next year from President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) to his presumed heir, Vice President Xi Jinping (習近平).
“There are no so-called ‘independent candidates,’ and there is no legal basis for ‘independent candidates,’” said the NPC official as quoted in the People’s Daily, the party’s main newspaper.
China’s Constitution in principle allows all adults to run for the largely powerless local People’s Congresses, except those who have been formally stripped of political rights.
However, in practice, the one-party government tilts the vote heavily in favor of its own candidates, mostly officials and party members.
Independent-minded citizens who hope to win a place on these congresses face heavy procedural barriers, though in past years a few have succeeded in winning election and then have used their posts to challenge government officials.
Now Beijing has warned would-be grassroots politicians that they cannot campaign online and on the streets as “independent candidates.”
“There are independent candidates using microblogs to seek election by calling for citizens to write their names onto the ballot paper, challenging the official barriers,” said Liu Shengmin, a resident of Shanghai who has fought two local elections and said he was thinking of doing so again.
“Even if I don’t succeed, I want to show that seeking office is a citizen’s basic right and duty,” Liu said by telephone. “The law doesn’t expressly ban people calling themselves independent candidates, so this rule has no legal basis.”
China’s leaders have been shaken by anti-authoritarian -uprisings across the Arab world, which they fear could inspire challenges to their grip on power.
Beijing has this year tightened censorship and detained dissidents, human rights lawyers and activists in a bid to deter any signs of unrest.
Hu retires from office late next year, and the party is also wary of any threats to the leadership transition.
Elections for the local-level legislatures come once every five years and China says more than 900 million citizens will vote for candidates in ballots this year and next.
“By saying that the independent candidates can’t call themselves that, the official seems to be threatening their campaign -activities,” said Yao Lifa (姚立法), who successfully ran as an independent candidate for a local congress in Hubei Province in the late 1990s.
Yao failed in his bid for a second term as a congress delegate in Qianjiang, his home city, something he and his supporters blamed on official obstruction.
Yao said he knew of about 90 independent candidates across the country for the next round of elections.
“There are sure to be more than that. They face many difficulties,” he said. “There’s been no relaxation [of the political atmosphere]. but more people feel they should have the right to take part in elections, real elections.”
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