Elections for the Communist Party of China (CPC) national
congress are becoming more competitive, figures for the poll on the
17th congress show.
The CPC on Thursday published a list of 2,217 congress
delegates, who were chosen by more than 70 million CPC members
across the country after a three-month election.
Party committees at all levels nominated 2,550 candidates in 38
electorates for the final 2,217 formal delegates. This means the
number of candidates was 15 percent higher than the number of
delegates, compared with 10 percent higher in the election for the
16th congress in 2002.
"The increased ratio of candidates gave voters more choice,"
Associate Professor Wan Jun, of the Party School of the CPC Central
Committee, said.
"The election for the 17th congress has been regarded by many
non-Party observers as an improvement of the CPC's internal
democracy," he said.
The number of delegates to the 17th CPC national congress was
almost 100 more than for the 16th congress, in line with the total
number CPC members, which has increased by about 6 million.
Deng Xiaohua, an official with the Chongqing banking regulatory
commission, said voters could choose anyone who was qualified.
"There was no recommended list of delegates from higher
authorities," he said.
Free nominations and voting encouraged more qualified voters to
participate. Blackboards, bulletins, electronic displays, TVs and
the Internet were used to send information about the election.
Ninety-nine percent of grassroots Party organizations and 98
percent of individual Party members participated in the
election.
It also showed that delegates to the CPC's national congress are
getting younger, with those under 55 accounting for 70.4 percent of
the total, 7.2 percentage points higher than the previous
congress.
Delegates were also better educated, with 93.3 percent holding
academic degrees above junior college level, 1.6 percentage points
higher than that of the previous congress.
(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2007)