Equal representation in people's congresses to close rural, urban gap

• Source: Xinhua
• [18:40 March 03 2010]
• Comments

Trial run

In the latest election in 2007, rural and urban residents in Sheyang county of east China's Jiangsu Province were equally represented at the people's congress of the county in a trial run.

Compared with the previous election in 2002, the total number of deputies was reduced by ten in 2007 because of population change, however the number of rural deputies increased by 18, said Yu Weihua, an official in charge of election affairs with the Standing Committee of Sheyang County People's Congress.

Rural deputies accounted for 55 percent of the total, up from 48 percent in the 2002 election.

"As more rural deputies joined, we received more motions related to agriculture development and public service for rural residents," Yu said.

At Changdang township in Sheyang, rural deputies have pushed the local government to build a new road and start a project to improve the quality of drinking water.

But, not everything has gone smoothly.

"It is not easy for us to elect deputies who can really represent farmers as many young people work in cities and no longer live in villages," Yu said.

Due to limited access to information and some deputies' lack of education, rural deputies could not always raise good motions, he added.

Prof. Wang Xuehui with the Southwest University of Political Science and Law suggested the people's congresses should provide training for rural deputies to help them better understand their work.

For instance, the deputies could join special investigation projects on issues which farmers think most important, he said.

Xinhua writers Zhang Yunlong in Hohhot, Li Yanan in Zhengzhou and Cheng Shihua in Hefei contributed to this report.