Delegates considered for Party congress

XINING－After three months of nominations, examinations and elections, Wang Fucun is on the final candidate list for the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

Wang is a village Party head of Gaomiao township in Haidong, Qinghai province.

At the end of this month, the CPC Qinghai Provincial Committee will vote for candidates on a list consisting of Wang and 32 others to determine its delegates to the congress, which is set for later this year.

"I'm glad that my work and conduct have been recognized by Party members and people recommending me. Whether or not I'm elected, I have felt a huge responsibility," he said.

Nationwide, a total of 2,300 delegates will be elected before June to represent China's 88 million CPC members at the national congress.

The congress, slated for the second half of the year in Beijing, will discuss and set the future direction for the Party and country, as well as elect new central leadership.

Li Changlong, secretary of the CPC Gaomiao Township Committee, remembered how Wang was nominated.

"Our committee organized a meeting involving 23 Party branches across the township as required on Jan 18. Six candidates, including Wang, were nominated," he said.

Three days after the committee submitted the candidate list to the higher administrative level, Ledu district, the CPC Ledu District Committee sent a team to examine their files and solicit public opinion.

"The key was to check whether they had corruption issues or public complaints against them," Li said.

Similar procedures were performed by CPC committees at district, city and provincial levels in the following months, shortening the list of 87 candidates to 33.

After retiring from the Army in the 1980s, Wang organized villagers in his hometown to be construction workers in the cities, helping the village shake off poverty. He was elected head of the village in 2005 and its Party head in 2014.

The nationwide drive to enhance rural areas since 2009 brought both challenges and opportunities.

Facing numerous village issues, such as road construction, garbage collection and residential renovation, Wang established a standard procedure to deal with village affairs to ensure transparency and public participation.

The procedure requires each project be discussed by the village committee and Party branch for a solution, followed by a CPC member deliberation, a full village vote and full disclosure of the project and its solution.

"With the standard procedure, we are able to supervise village affairs in a transparent way and have our questions responded to in a timely manner," said Wang Kerong, one of the villagers nominating the veteran.

According to the election work plan of the province issued by the Organization Department of CPC Qinghai Provincial Committee, the entire nomination, examination and election process should show "zero tolerance" to CPC members with flaws.

Candidates found with fake files or problems with corruption, or those who engage in drug use, gambling, prostitution or drunken driving, are prohibited under the plan.

Disciplinary departments are requested to investigate any public complaints.

To welcome wide participation, authorities in the provincial capital, Xining, wrote a public letter to all CPC members that was published across a range of media. It was also translated into Tibetan, a language spoken by many in the city.

Fan Peiyou, a poverty relief worker in Zhujiazhuang village, Huangzhong county, said 35 CPC members in the village discussed the nominees on three occasions.

"The task force visited CPC members with walking difficulties at home to listen to their opinions, and those who work in cities were solicited for comments via WeChat," he said.