Xinhua, the official state media, reported that the county-level legislative body accepted the resignations Saturday of 512 lawmakers who took bribes from the aforementioned 56 provincial legislators.
The lawmakers apparently received some 110 million yuan ($18.1 million) in bribes, which served to swing the results of a recent election, as Reuters reports.
“The fraud, involving such a huge number of lawmakers and a large amount of money, is serious in nature and has a vile impact,” Hunan’s government said in a statement.
The statement also named Tong Mingqian, the former head of the Hengyang’s Communist Party, as being “directly responsible” for the scandal.
Reuters reports that there is heavy competition for those who want to make a career as a lawmaker. The pressure has often led to bribery.
China’s President Xi Jinping has vowed to crack down on corruption, going after “tiger and flies,” meaning both high- and low-ranking government officials. He warned that the crackdown could topple the Communist Party, which has refused to set up any kind of third-party watchdog to monitor its behavior.
