Eighteen months after the first 'unofficial' direct election in a mainland town, local cadres and villagers are convinced a directly elected chief is more accountable than an appointed one.
The bold experiment was carried out by reform-minded party cadres in Sichuan's Buyun township. About 6,200 people in the 11 villages that make up the township voted in December 1998 for their own leader.
The mainland's 870 million rural dwellers have been voting for village leaders for a decade, but it was the first time such a poll had been held in any of the country's 45,000 towns. Central authorities are cautious about extending elections to townships because they fear losing control, with resulting instability.
The winner of the Buyun election, Tan Xiaoqiu, had promised farmers in the remote town of 16,000 people with an average annual income of 500 yuan (HK$470) that he would cut taxes and improve the economy.
Mr Tan, also the town's party vice-secretary, vowed not to waste public money on drinking and dining when he was sworn into office in January last year. Halfway through his three-year term, surveys showed most thought Mr Tan had lived up to his word.
'Mr Tan has pushed ahead some long-awaited construction projects. A road connecting to Shizhong county is under construction and now villagers in the township can receive television broadcasts since microwave broadcast facilities were installed,' said one farmer, who shares the surname, Cai, with most villagers in the township.