Premier: conditions not ripe for direct elections at higher levels
( 2003-11-24 09:05) (Xinhua)
Conditions are not ripe for direct elections at the higher levels, said Premier Wen Jiabao when interviewed by Leonard Downie, executive editor of The Washington Post of the United States, in Beijing Friday.
In response to a question about direct elections of local governments, Wen said that at the moment, China has introduced the practice of self-administration and direct elections in 680,000 villages.
"This is a great innovation, and it is also very good practice for Chinese farmers," said Wen.
"We have also introduced suffrage for the election of people's deputies at the level of townships, counties and urban cities without districts," he said.
Indirect elections are held for the leadership of the provinces,autonomous regions, municipalities with districts, as well as the central authorities, Wen said.
"This is because China is such a huge country. It has a big population. It is underdeveloped, and economic development is uneven between regions," said the premier.
"So conditions are not ripe for direct elections at the higher levels. The first hindrance in my view is the inadequate education level of the population, the premier said.
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