In December 2007 Decision-making magazine conducted a poll covering public elections for officials in China. The poll addressed civil servants, applicants for government positions, organizers of public elections, experts and ordinary people in Beijing, Hubei, Jiangxi, Anhui, and Jiangsu.
80 percent of those surveyed believed that qualified officials could be selected through public elections, 32.6 percent considered that the key to the success in elections was capability and good performance in work, while 30.2 percent chose comprehensive qualities, as indicated by the opinion poll.
52.8 percent thought it was difficult to identify the comprehensive qualities and potentials of selected officials when asked the question "what problems are facing the public elections?".
Therein lies the paradox, which is particularly obvious with the servants who had participated in the public elections.
This reflects an attitude of the majority people towards the public election of officials, according to relevant experts. The public rationally approve of open elections, hoping that the elections will increase the transparency of the country's cadre selection and appointment system and create more opportunities for young government employees to get promoted.
The transparency of cadre selections and appointments should be improved to restrain corruption, common knowledge among all circles of society., but the problem is that examinations often carry weight in the selections, arousing questions about whether qualified officials can be selected.
"One of my colleagues gave up his candidacy because he didn't feel confident about taking exams, although he has years of working experience at grassroots levels," said an official in Anhui Province.
51.4 percent believed that open selections had developed well in China, with the others choosing "bad" or "very bad".
Official candidates who get high scores in selection tests don't perform well in their actual work, while the candidates with excellent working performances don't behave so well in the tests, thus creating a big problem concerning open elections.
11.8 percent believed that the problem could be solved by improving selection procedures and methods, with 55.9 percent considering that the problem could basically be settled through this way.
The reforms in selecting officials have been widely implemented nationwide in the last couple of years. Selections in Sichuan not only focus on basic knowledge and skills, versatility to cope with vagaries as well as command and application of policies, but also good behavior and public recognition.
Jiangsu began to combine selection tests with positions to bring candidates' specialties into play.
34.6 percent of those surveyed suggested that selection exams be improved to be more scientific.
More than 90 percent thought that unified standards were needed for open elections in China, only 8.8 percent considered it unnecessary.
51.6 percent believed that it would take 2 to 4 years to improve China's open selection system and 48.4 percent chose "more than 5 years".
(China.org.cn by Yang Xi, February 5, 2008)
