Give farmers a greater say in politics
- Source: Global Times
- [01:11 October 28 2009]
- Comments
It cannot be denied that stark divisions still exist between China's urban and rural areas, and among them the split lies in the different political rights.
While rural areas have developed quickly and farmers have become increasingly conscious of their rights, their political participation still lags.
The National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee is looking to correct the different ratio of urban and rural deputies elected to the legislative body.
The NPC is making an overdue decision in correcting the situation. It reflects the progress China's rural areas have made in the past 10 years.
Articles 12, 14 and 16 of the Electoral Law stipulate that the number of deputies in the People's Congress at the national, provincial and county levels shall be allocated in accordance with the principle that the number of people represented by each rural deputy be four times the number of people represented by each urban deputy.
Behind the legal jargon, it is a simple fact that there are unfairly fewer lawmakers representing the interests of farmers, voicing their concerns and delivering results to them, compared with the urban population.
Cai Dingjian, a professor at the China University of Political Science and Law, analyzed the composition of the 10th NPC (2003- 2008). Among the 2,988 delegates, more than 1,200 were government officials, some 600 were business delegates, and only around 80 were rural deputies, accounting for 3 percent of the total. Farmers have been forced to become a silent group.
Ongoing urbanization has transformed the landscape of China, but the process impacts the rural population too.
Relevant issues include farm land being taken for construction, and the necessity of earmarking proper financial resources for rural areas when certain industries are given priority.
From the policy agenda to mass media, political forums are deluged by concerns, complaints and debates on topics that interest urban residents, to the extent that the voices of farmers have been significantly muted.
It seems that attention is only reluctantly given to rural problems after they become big issues. Farmers, who are at the heart of rural issues, deserve equal political rights. Nobody can represent farmers' interests better than farmers themselves. The country's growth cannot be a smooth process without their concerns being properly addressed.
