China vows ‘zero tolerance’ for election fraud in forthcoming party congress
The 19th Party Congress, expected to be in autumn, will see China’s President Xi Jinping look to further cement his grip on power
China has vowed to give no quarter in handling election fraud in the Communist Party’s forthcoming 19th Party Congress to decide on its future leadership, warning cadres to learn from past political scandals.
“There will be ‘zero tolerance’ to vote soliciting or vote buying”, and “severe” investigations into any malpractice, the party’s flagship People’s Daily newspaper said in a front-page editorial on Friday.
Party members were told they must learn the “profound lessons” of past vote-rigging scandals, citing a recent case in northern Liaoning province where half of the province’s legislators were dismissed due to fraud.
The editorial also pointed to a case in central Hunan province where officials in Hengyang City were found to have bribed 518 lawmakers.
All cases cited involved officials implicated in various forms of vote-buying and rigging in order to secure themselves seats at the local People’s Congress, lower level legislatures that generally act as a rubber stamp.