Ex-official sentenced for his role in election scandal

A court in Beijing sentenced Liu Qiang, former vice-governor of Liaoning province, to 12 years in prison on Tuesday for accepting bribes and disrupting an election.

Liu was also fined 1.2 million yuan ($180,000). All property gained through bribery will be seized and properties used to gain votes will be confiscated, the Beijing No 3 Intermediate People's Court announced in a ruling.

Liu said in court that he will not appeal.

The Liu verdict is the most recent one concerning an election scandal in Liaoning province in which 45 National People's Congress deputies and 523 deputies to the provincial congress were involved in vote buying in 2013.

The NPC Standing Committee, the country's top legislature, disqualified the 45 deputies, and 523 provincial deputies resigned or were disqualified.

Liu was found to have abused his power as vice-governor of Liaoning, mayor of Fushun, Liaoning, and secretary of the Party Committee and general manager of PetroChina Co's Fushun branch in Liaoning, to manipulate matters such as business operations, project contracting and job promotion, the court said.

He illegally accepted properties equivalent to more than 10.6 million yuan between 2000 and 2017, it said.

From 2011 to January 2013, Liu, in an attempt to be elected vice-governor of Liaoning, used his position as Fushan's Party secretary to canvass for himself by offering money and making special visits, it said, adding that such activities "destroyed the normal election process and had a very bad social impact".

The court said it believed Liu committed bribery and damaged the election.

"In view of the fact that Liu Qiang was able to confess his crimes, plead guilty and return illegal property, he shall be given a lenient punishment," it said.

Liu was born in 1964 and appointed vice-governor of Liaoning province in 2013. He pleaded guilty in court in November.

In March 2017, 15 courts in Liaoning cities including Shenyang, Anshan and Fushun issued rulings in the cases of 41 officials involved in vote buying and imposed imprisonment and other punishments for corruption, bribery and disrupting the election.

Li Xi, the province's former Party chief, said in a 2017 interview that the province had drawn lessons from the scandal and that rules have been strengthened at every level.

The scandal stirred a public outcry. People's Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Party of China, said in an opinion piece released at the time that the country should have zero tolerance for electoral bribery.

"We must unswervingly uphold and improve the people's congress system, and provide a strong institutional guarantee for the country's long-term stability and prosperity," it said.