The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) has warned a senior official against lobbying people to get re-elected as a member of the Shaanxi provincial standing committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

The CCDI is the Party's anti-graft watchdog, and the warning was part of Beijing's move to strengthen supervision to make the nationwide provincial elections for the new term open and fair.

The same warning was also issued by the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, which is in charge of appointing the officials.

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Shaanxi's deputy governor Li Tangtang, 53, allegedly called or sent messages to eight people in the provincial government asking them to vote for him.

The eight then persuaded 50-odd people to vote for Li in the coming election to the CPC's provincial standing committee.

Li is the highest-ranking official to be warned for misconduct. A CCDI statement openly denounced Li as a bad example, and urged officials at all levels to learn a lesson from him and not think of following his example.

The Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee circulated notices, detailing 121 cases of discipline violation during last month's elections. It denounced 192 people and revoked the illegal appointments of 613 people.

The CCDI and the Organization Department issued a statement last May, saying they would do everything possible to maintain a clean election environment. People found canvassing for votes or bribing people to garner support will be punished or sacked, it said.

Li was elected deputy governor of Shaanxi only last April. He was the deputy mayor of Baoji, his hometown in the province, and was then shifted to Xianyang before being promoted to his present post.

A professor of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, Liu Chun, said Li was condemned just in time to deter others from doing the same. "The condemnation has sent a clear signal that no disciplinary violation will be tolerated."

Addressing CCDI's annual work meeting in December, President Hu Jintao had said that being ethical was vital to check corruption.

"Moral decay always goes ahead of corruption," Ye Duchu, another professor of the Party School, said.

China Daily-Xinhua

(China Daily 02/06/2007 page4)