CHINA TOPIX

05/18/2024 03:19:51 pm

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China's legislature to deal seriously with election fraud offenders

China will not tolerate corruption in any form in legislative elections and will deal with those found guilty of election fraud with an iron hand, a spokeswoman for the country's top legislature said on Tuesday.

China will not allow any action that would challenge its people's congress system, said Fu Ying, spokeswoman for the 12th National People Congress second session which is scheduled to open on Wednesday.

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"No matter who they are, where they are, if they buy votes or have other conduct that disrupts elections, they will be dealt with seriously. There is no exception," Fu said.  Fu gave this statement when asked about the electoral fraud that happened in Hengyang, Hunan province's second largest city.

The election fraud which was considered as the worst ever committed in the National People's Congress's history happened during the election of provincial legislators in Hengyang during the first session of the 14th Hengyang people's congress held between Dec 28, 2012 and Jan 3, 2013.

The said election fraud involved a huge number of lawmakers as well as very big amount of money.

Investigations conducted on the election fraud showed that 56 lawmakers elected to the provincial legislature offered bribes to 518 municipal lawmakers and 68 staff members. The total amount of money involved in the bribery cases amounted to over 110 million yuan ($18.14 million).

All of the 56 elected lawmakers involved in the election fraud were disqualified while Hengyang City's country level legislative bodies accepted the resignation of 512 of those who received bribes.

The NPC will firmly safeguard the authority of the Constitution and laws and the system of people's congress, Fu said.

"Any act undermining the legislative election, no matter who are involved and where it takes place, should be severely punished. There is no exception," said Fu.

Deputies of the NPC should be good examples by strictly adhering to the country's laws and respecting the people's will, Fu said further.

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