New head of Wukan elected

Lin vows to fulfil duty fairly and openly

WUKAN: Head of a new village committee of Wukan in southern China’s Guangdong province was elected, several months after its villagers staged massive protests over illegal land sales and other issues.

Lin Zulian, who was appointed as the village’s Communist Party of China (CPC) secretary after the protests, won 6,205 votes in an overwhelming victory to become the village chief in the election with a turnout of 81.45%.

Yang Semao, winning 3,609 votes, was elected as the deputy chief of the committee.

The five other seats of the village committee would be filled in a by-election.

On hearing the final results, Lin said he would perform his duty in accordance with villagers’ wishes and law, protect villagers’ lawful rights and interests and lead his administrative authority to manage village assets fairly and openly.

Many voters said they accepted the election results and regarded the two as “capable”, ”strong” and “always having the interests of the villagers at hearts”.

“This is our time to execute our voting rights. It’s very serious and I believe they will not let us down,” said villager Sun Wei.

Another villager Xie Ziqin put high hopes on the new village leadership.

“I hope that the new committee could fulfil their duties impartially, be considerate to the public and build a better future for us. The first and most important of our concerns is to take back the illegally sold land,” he said.

Thousands of people in south China’s village of Wukan went to the polls on Saturday to elect a new village committee.

The villagers cast their ballots at a voting centre set up in a village school campus.

Twenty-two candidates delivered public speeches on Wednesday to woo votes.

The fishing village has 8,363 registered voters out of a population of about 12,000.