The on-going session of the People's Congress is the fifth and last
gathering of deputies elected to the Ninth National People's
Congress. Looking back on the work of the previous four years,
Xu
Jialu noted great progress marked by achievements that feature
the following four characteristics:
First, the quality of legislation has improved thanks to the reform
of the investigation, research, and deliberation processes of this
law-making body, Xu said.
"Opinions from all sides need to be solicited when drafting a law,
particularly when the law submitted for deliberation involves the
interests of various citizens," Xu said.
Before a law is adopted by the National People's
Congress, according to Xu, NPC deputies will do thorough
research, collecting opinions from experts, field workers and the
court system, and coordinating with various departments
concerned.
Second, the principle of enacting a law on a democratic base has
been implemented and enhanced. "NPC deputies listen widely to the
public and make extensive researches to stand for the interests of
people," said Xu, noting that the revision of the Marriage Law and
Organic Law of Villagers' Committee were accomplished through wide
discussion via the media.
Third, running the country according to law has been enhanced both
in theory and practice over the past years. As a ruling Party,
according to Xu, the Communist Party of China should run the
country according to law. Neither a decision of the Party nor the
words of a leading Party official can turn into a law. In sum, he
said, the Party's will can turn into law only through a democratic
process. He stressed that the relationship between the Party's
leadership and the people's representatives is that the Party's
leadership should be enhanced while full play should be given to
democracy. The Communist Party of China, as a ruling Party, should
also act within the scope permitted by law.
Fourth, the function of People's Congress as a supervisory body has
been enhanced. Xu said, "Supervision is a very important
responsibility of People's Congress, but also it has been a weak
link. Fortunately, great progress has been made in this respect
over the past four years." He cited following examples to support
his view.
After the Budget Law was promulgated in 2000, the budget reported
to the National People's Congress by the State Development Planning
Commission is no longer a vague paper, but is carefully classified
into various items. The commission submits the verified budgetary
items for next year to National People's Congress before November.
The Budgetary Committee and the Standing Committee of the National
People's Congress will carefully review each item.
At
present, top legislators are working on a regulation governing the
supervision of significant cases by People's Congress. According to
this regulation, said Xu, the People's Congress must attend to
individual cases of great significance and influence.
Local People's Congresses have also tried different ways of
appraisal to supervise the performance of local officials.
The drafting work on the Supervision Law has been accomplished, but
it will go through a period of discussion, deliberation and
modification before being adopted.
"We should be aware that our supervision is still far from enough
and needs to be strengthened. But in what way? Supervision by
People's Congress can replace neither disciplinary inspection
within the Party nor the government's Ministry of Supervision nor
supervision from the media and the public. It should be a
supervision by law. Where to find a mechanism which fits for
China's reality? It requires a process. At present, the public is
unsatisfied with our supervision, which indicates that we must
strengthen our work in this regard," Xu said.
Tomorrow: Xu Jialu gives his views on the promotion of
democracy.
(By Yan Xinxia, china.org.cn staff reporter, translated by Chen
Qiuping, March 9, 2002)