20140113c
Date: 13Jan., 2014
Subject:GT: Paying to represent
Paying to represent
Global Times | 2014-1-13 19:53:01
By Huang Jingjing
An electoral fraud scandal involving nearly 600 lawmakers in Hengyang, Central China's Hunan Province, shocked many people in China when a widespread system of paying for legislative positions was uncovered.
The price tag in Hengyang was more than half a million yuan ($82,600) for a deputy position to city-level people's congress and 2 million yuan for a position at the provincial people's congress.
When he got the news that 56 out of 76 provincial lawmakers from Hengyang were declared ineligible in late December to serve in the legislature for bribing voters, Li Xingeng, a Hengyang resident who blew the whistle on a local entrepreneur's involvement in electoral bribery, was happy.
"But I'm not surprised. Electoral fraud is common here and didn't only happen in the latest elections," Li told the Global Times. In February, a tip-off letter with his signature was circulated on the Internet, prompting a widespread outcry and an announcement of a quick investigation.
In the letter, he accused Zuo Jianguo, chairwoman of a property developer in the city, of spending about 700,000 yuan in bribes to become a people's congress deputy of Hengyang in 2007. By giving 5,000 yuan each to about 520 voters in the city, she was successfully elected to the Hunan provincial people's congress in 2013, said the letter.
Zuo was just one name on the list of 56 who were expelled, which included 20 officials from the government or State-owned enterprises and 32 private enterprise owners.
"Being a deputy to the people's congress means a lot. Entrepreneurs can enjoy preferential tax policies and priority in applying for projects," Li said.
Red envelopes for voters
According to the electoral law, deputies at municipal level and above are elected by the lower-level people's congresses, while deputies at county and township levels are elected directly by voters.
From December 28, 2012 to January 3, 2013, a total of 527 city-level legislators in Hengyang voted for 76 provincial-level legislators from a list of 93 candidates. The investigation found that 518 of the voters, together with 68 staff, had received bribes totaling 110 million yuan.
Five other provincial-level legislators and three other city-level legislators were found guilty of severe negligence. All the legislators involved were dismissed from the legislature.
But these bribes pale in comparison to the cost of becoming a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC).
Zhu Siyi, chairman of Shaoguan Yida Fuel Development Co., Ltd, GuangdongProvince, confessed to paying more than 10 million yuan in bribes to become elected as an NPC deputy after he was charged with bribery, Nanfang Daily reported. In August 2008, his qualifications for deputy were revoked, and in 2011 he was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Huang Yubiao, 64 and chairman of Dayawan Guangbao Industry, a property development and construction material company in Huizhou, Guangdong Province, explained the incentives for becoming a people's congress deputy.
"A legislator can pay less or even no taxes. He can also have his project approved easily and purchase land at way below market price," Huang told the Global Times.
On August 18, 2009, Zhou Guangquan, former Party chief of Chaohu, Anhui Province, was sentenced to life in prison for corruption. According to Zhou's confession, he helped two entrepreneurs He Bangxi and Xu Dingfeng become Anhui Provincial People's Congress and NPC deputies in exchange for bribes and more investment in the city, China Economic Times reported.
He Bangxi claimed that he had acquired 270 mu (18 hectares) of land with an average land transfer price of 12,000 yuan per mu for industrial use in 2002 and 2003, the report said. The standard government price for land was up to 240,000 yuan per mu in 2005.
The newspaper also found that the Chaohu government signed another land transfer contract for 10,000 mu with He, who used it for commercial development, but the price was not made public, according to the report.
In late 2012, Huang returned to his hometown in Shaoyang, neighboring Hengyang, in HunanProvince, and planned to run for deputy to the Hunan Provincial People's Congress.
Though successfully becoming a candidate due to his donations to charitable causes in Shaoyang of up to 30 million yuan, he was eventually unsuccessful in his bid, as he failed to follow one unspoken rule.
Days ahead of the election, he was informed by an official to send red envelopes to voters - 3,000 yuan each to the countyParty chief, county executive and director of the county people's congress, and 1,000 yuan each to everyone else. The official later brought him a name list and Huang prepared a total of 470 red envelopes.
But after having sent out 320 red envelopes, he stopped as disappointment and anger mounted. "The election was largely decided by bribes. Even if I get into the legislature, it's no longer meaningful to hold a position in a circle where officials and businessmen collude with and shield each other," Huang recalled.
He collected evidence and tried to expose the practice by tipping off related discipline organs. But the investigation was not announced until he made an open report to the media in late January 2013. The bribes were soon returned, but no results have been announced.
"The investigation was possibly blocked. I was under surveillance for nearly a month last year and officials kept lobbying me to keep my mouth shut. Someone even threatened to detain me," he said, adding that fearing his report may incriminate too many people, he finally gave up.
"Even to be nominated as a candidate, you have to pay bribes," Huang said, adding that a county-level legislator can receive at least 70,000 yuan in payoffs during the election season.
Figure of intimidation
With money and connections, even people who have committed crimes or own underground gambling houses can become lawmakers, according to Huang.
A deputy, who can criticize, challenge and propose to recall officials, can be a figure of intimidation for officials, prosecutors and judges. Some entrepreneurs even use their status as legislators to intervene in judicial cases, said China Youth Daily.
"Officials will always try to have those who endorse their regulations and support their policies become local people's congress deputies. Officials offer these deputies convenience, and the deputies pay them back in bribes and stand behind them, thus the two sides protect each other," Huang lamented.
Recently, Tang Xinde, a property developer in Urumqi and a deputy to the city's people's congress, came under fire for beating up property purchasers. When interviewed by the media, he admitted to the beating and said, "It's no problem [for me] to beat two or three young guys."
On January 7, the local police announced that Tang had been fined 500 yuan and given 15 days' detention. On January 12, the standing committee of the Urumqi People's Congress announced that Tang had been removed from the legislature.
"Now, there are many 'tuhao' [a nickname for the new rich in China] and they want to wear a different hat. Being a people's congress deputy is like wearing a glorious crown. It is also a political stage where they can meet elites from both the political and business sectors," Han Zhipeng, a member of the Guangzhou municipal committee of the CPPCC and also editor-in-chief of Guangzhou Overseas Chinese Business Post, told the Global Times.
But many of them lack legal awareness and know little about the rights and responsibilities of being a deputy, he noted.
On November 26, 2011, Xu Mingxiong, director of the Environmental Monitoring and Purifying Association in Huizhou, Guangdong, showed his legislator's certificate to avoid being detained by traffic police after he became drunk and drove his Mercedes into an electric bicycle.
On December 21, 2012, Chen Kai, a former cultural official in Haikou, HainanProvince, shouted, "I'm a people's congress deputy. If you arrest me, I will have you all laid off tomorrow!" to police after being involved in a traffic accident in which he hit seven vehicles.
Xu was dismissed from the Huicheng district people's congress in Huizhou three days later, while Chen was later found to be a fake deputy of the people's congress.
Many of the privileges of being a people's congress deputy have no legal basis, Chen Shu, the chief editor of Guangzhou Lawyer magazine who is now in her third term as an NPC deputy, told the Global Times.
"A legislator should represent and serve people in exercising power and supervise administrative, judicial and procuratorial organs. But in some places, the power is abused and becomes a tool for legislators to seek benefits for themselves," Chen said.
The law stipulates that deputies cannot be arrested or put on trial unless they receive special dispensation from the standing committees of related people's congresses. It also says that deputies must abide by the constitution, laws and regulations.
Han said that elections are not properly conducted in some places and winners are decided by some high-level organ head.
"The fundamental solution is to shape a proper culture and system, in which people can obtain resources through normal, legal and equal competition," Chen said.
In addition, electoral transparency must be enhanced and a system to assess and supervise deputy's performances should be established, she noted.
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