Remove money and clans from village elections

• Source: Global Times
• [23:00 March 04 2010]
• Comments

By William Chen

This week's "Two Sessions," namely the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), are often hailed as a step forward toward democracy in China.

But the aftermath of democratic elections, especially in developing areas, can be pretty unpleasant.

My father used to tell me, "The countryside is much more complicated than you think." I had a bad experience of this over Spring Festival in my hometown in Fujian Province. The latest village election took place in the fall of 2009 and left everyone a negative impression.

Working in Beijing, I got some cues about the intricacies of the local election over phone chats with my family.

One of my distant relatives was standing against the then incumbent village head in a two-man race. Clans and families threw their weight behind the candidate of their choice.

Money was pooled by both camps to buy cigarettes or simply doled out to voters. It came as no surprise that the side with deeper pocket won the race.

My family was on the losing side, while our three neighbors were in the victorious camp. They used to be good friends of ours, and as a child I hung out there all the time.

But, during my six days' stay in the village, I had no contact with them. Our previously friendly relations, as when the grandson of one family popped over to report career success last New Year, were shattered.

Neighborly ties became so tense that sitting in one room became impossible. Winning and losing are exacerbated in rural areas where face is all-important. The winners tend to rejoice a bit too much while the losers magnify their grief by seizing on any petty evidence they can, hoping to salvage their shredded dignity.

Not long after the election, the neighbor's kid got into a scrap with my cousins, and the fight spread until knife-wielding relatives were facing each other down. The police managed to stop the fight, but the tensions are still there.

Any sign of friendliness from my side toward the winning camp could be taken as betrayal of my clan, and thus might earn resentment from my relatives or the condescending laughter of the other camp.