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Motions & Proposals
Special> NPC & CPPCC Sessions 2012> Motions & Proposals
UPDATED: March 8, 2012
China to elect Lawmakers on Equal Ratio
For the first time, the quota of 2,000 deputies to the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) will be given to urban and rural residents based on the same population ratio
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China will elect deputies to its top legislature next year based on the same population ratio in rural and urban areas, if a draft decision on lawmaker election tabled for deliberation on Thursday is approved.

For the first time, the quota of 2,000 deputies to the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) will be given to urban and rural residents based on the same population ratio.

"NPC deputies are the component members of the highest organ of state power who represent the interests and will of the people and participate, pursuant to the law, in the exercise of state power," said Li Jianguo, vice chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, while explaining the draft decision to a plenary meeting of the NPC annual session.

The election of deputies to the 12th NPC shall be completed in January 2013, two months prior to the five-year term of the 11th NPC ending in March next year, said the draft decision.

"The greatest feature of the election lies in the adoption of election of deputies to the people's congresses based on the same population ratio in urban and rural areas," Li said.

The success of the election will be of tremendous importance to developing socialist democratic politics, ensuring that the people are the masters of the country, and enhancing the building of state power, Li said.

It will also help assimilate the wisdom and strength of all sectors, promote development by a scientific approach and enhance social harmony, he added.

The draft decision follows major principles set forth in the amended Electoral Law, in a bid to better embody equality among all citizens, regions and ethnic groups.

The quota of deputies to be distributed according to the size of population "shall follow that one deputy represents about 670,000 people in rural or urban areas," Li said.

An equal base number shall be allocated to each of the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in the Chinese mainland regardless of its size of population. The draft decision stipulates that the equal base number for each provincial region shall be eight, making a total of 248.

Some deputy seats will be reserved by the NPC Standing Committee to ensure that each ethnic group, no matter how small its population is, can have at least one seat at the NPC, according to the draft decision.

The draft decision ensures the equal elective rights of urban and rural residents, promotes democracy and enhances representativeness and inclusiveness of China's congress system, legal experts said.

"With large numbers of rural residents moving into cities, China's urbanization drive accelerates in recent years. The development gap between different regions and between urban and rural areas has been narrowed, which creates favorable conditions of endowing equal elective rights with urban and rural residents," said Han Dayuan, dean of the Law School of Renmin University of China.

China's urban population made up only about 13 percent of the country's total, according to the national census of 1953. The rural population was much greater than that of cities at that time, and an equal ratio of rural and urban representation would have meant an excessive number of rural deputies.

According to the amendment made in 1995, each rural deputy represented a population four times that of an urban deputy. Prior to the 1995 amendment, the ratio was eight times.

China amended its Electoral Law in 2010, adopting the principle that each deputy represents the same number of urban or rural residents.

With rapid urbanization and rural economic development, China's urban population outnumbered rural residents for the first time as of the end of 2011.

"The amendment is part of the country's efforts to empower rural populations by optimizing the structure of deputies of the people's congress system," said Chang Dechuan, board chairman of Qingdao Port Group and an NPC deputy. "More deputies with rural background will be members of the highest organ of state power."

"This will bring new thoughts and ideas into the congress, make it more inclusive, and reflect demands and interests from a wider range of social sectors," Chang said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 8, 2012)



 
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