BEIJING, Sept 5: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Tuesday defended the government’s reluctance to expand democracy, saying direct elections at higher levels of office must come gradually and only after lower levels can manage themselves.

The Communist Party, which has monopolised politics in the world’s most populous nation since the 1949 revolution, has limited direct elections to 680,000 villages and frowned on elections at township, county, provincial and national levels.

“China is a large country with a vast population, weak economic foundation and unbalanced development in different regions,” Mr Wen said in remarks on the eve of his visit to Europe.

“The conditions are not yet ripe for conducting direct election at a higher level of government,” Mr Wen said. “Democracy and direct election, in particular, should develop in an orderly way in keeping with the particular condition of a country.

“We are confident that when the people are capable of running a village through direct election, they will later be able to run a township, then a county and a province, true to the principle that our country is run by the people.”

In the face of growing unrest over a widening wealth gap, China has experimented with limited political reform in recent years in its search for viable checks and balances to curb corruption and boost efficiency, transparency and accountability.—Reuters