Tibetans Elect Their Local Leaders

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, November 18, 2002

Tibetans Elect Their Local Leaders

Farmers and herdsmen in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region have begun selecting their village heads by direct vote, part of a growing trend in rural areas throughout China.

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Farmers and herdsmen in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region have begun selecting their village heads by direct vote, part of a growing trend in rural areas throughout China.

Up until recently, village heads in China were appointed by superior authorities.

According to Chasi, a local official responsible for building political consciousness and neighborhood committees at the grass-roots level, elections of village heads have thus far been held in6,223 villages in the region's 73 cities and counties.

All villagers, aged 18 and above, regardless of nationality, gender, profession, family background, religious beliefs, schooling and housing status, are entitled to vote by secret ballot to select their village leaders, the official said.

Eighty-year-old Ngoizhub is one of tens of thousands of Tibetans who have cast their votes for their village heads.

Last month, nearly 90 percent of the residents in Samzhublhin Village in Dagze County, where Ngoizhub lives, participated in the selection of village leaders.

Ngoizhub said, "In the old Tibet, we serfs were deprived of all our rights, but now we are masters of our destiny and can elect our own village leaders."

A five-member village committee was elected after the election.

China first initiated the direct election of village heads in 1988 to reflect the will of farmers.

As of early 2001, three quarters of China's 730,000 village committees had held their first direct elections, in accordance with the Organic Law of Village Committees, passed in 1998.

This year, nearly 400 million people have taken part in the election of village committees in more than 300,000 villages across the country.

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