Farmers electing village leaders themselves is no longer a problem in the country's most rural areas, but supervising their work and the operation of village committees can be awkward.

A national co-ordination group on villagers' self-governance has pledged to help give farmers more say in decision-making and encouraged voters to actively supervise the actions of the leaders they selected.

As an integral part of their community's autonomy, the creation and implementation of democratic decision-making processes, management and supervision still lag far behind the establishment of democratic elections, Zhang Mingliang, director of the Department of Construction of Basic-level Government and Community under the Ministry of Civil Affairs, said yesterday in Beijing.

Often, "the will of the people is not fully reflected by village committees' decisions, while some committee members tend to forget their responsibility of exercising legal power for those who elected them," Zhang said at a meeting of the group.

The group, established last June by several ministries and institutions, has focused on promoting grassroots democracy and supervising the actions of village leaders.

Yesterday, the group promised to enhance supervision of village committees and to make more inspections of villagers' self-governing processes this year.

"The elected leaders risk losing their posts if they do not properly represent their people," Zhang said.

Late last year, a village head in Wuyi Village of Changsha, Central China's Hunan Province, was recalled by local residents after he allegedly sought personal gain by taking advantage of his position.

Auditing officials checked the committee's revenue accounts and found many muddled transactions.

Local farmers have called for more transparency of the village committee's work.

Chinese farmers have shown great enthusiasm in assuming their political rights, with an average turnout of above 90 per cent in village committee elections, said Li Xueju, minister of civil affairs.

The Organic Law of Villagers' Committees has been effective for five years now, and a standard direct election system has been formed in most Chinese villages, Li said.

However, Li indicated that "if ordinary people cannot have a say in their village's decision-making, any efforts to promote the building of democracy will fall short."

(China Daily February 12, 2004)