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By Xinhua News Agency Special Commentator
A salient feature of the Regulations on the Work of Selecting and Appointing Leading Party and Government Cadres issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is to persist in the basic orientation of expanding democracy in all the links of recommendation, appraisal, deliberation, decision-making through discussion and supervision in the selection and appointment of cadres. This gives further expression to the requirement for expanded democracy in this work. In studying and implementing the Regulations, one must be fully aware of the significance of expanding democracy in work concerning cadres, accurately grasp the scientific intension of expanding democracy, and put the requirement for expanding democracy into practice in the work of selecting and appointing cadres.
Expanding democracy in the work concerning cadres is an inevitable demand for building socialist democratic politics. Socialist democracy, in essence, means that the people are the masters of their own country. The guarantee that the masses of the people fully exercise their rights in democratic election, democratic decision-making, democratic management and democratic supervision is determined by the nature of the CPC and the nature of the state power. It is a concrete expression of putting the important concept of the "Three Represents" in work concerning cadres. Expanded democracy in this sphere is required to know how to judge cadres accurately, to select and appoint cadres accurately and to prevent mistakes from being made in judging and appointing people. Cadres live and work among the masses, who are most aware of their strengths and weaknesses, and merits and demerits. Only by inviting the widest participation of the masses, listening to their voices, respecting their opinions and pooling their wisdom, can we select cadres with whom both the Party and the people will be satisfied. Expanding democracy in work concerning cadres is needed to prevent and rectify unhealthy practices in personnel work. Those who seek official positions by making use of personal relations, going through the "back door" or practicing bribery will not be able to conceal their true colors under the illumination of democracy. Expanding democracy in personnel work is needed to strengthen the ties between the Party and the people. Only by following a mass line in work concerning cadres and selecting and appointing cadres with whom the general public are satisfied and support, can we safeguard the fundamental interests of the people in the best way, and only by so doing can we win their trust and support.
Comrade Deng Xiaoping once said that on the question of selecting people, attention must be focused on public opinion, and that we must select those who the people universally recognize as adhering to the line of reform and opening-up, and having achievements to their credit. The Party Central Committee with Comrade Jiang Zemin as the core has paid great attention to expanding democracy and following the mass line in the work concerning cadres. As required by the CPC Central Committee, all localities and departments have made constant efforts to promote the reform of the personnel system, greatly raised the degree of democracy in this work, obtained many important achievements and accumulated a wealth of successful experience. These achievements and experience have been fully absorbed into the Regulations. The conscientious implementation of the stipulations in the Regulations is an institutional guarantee for further expanding democracy in the work concerning cadres and encouraging widely acknowledged outstanding leaders with both political integrity and professional competence and outstanding achievements to their credit to come to the fore.
To expand democracy in the work concerning cadres, it is essential to ensure that the masses have the rights to be informed, participate, select and supervise in the selection and appointment of cadres. In the past few years, a very important cause of the problems found in the selection and appointment of cadres in a number of localities was the failure to use the measure of "universal acknowledgement by the general public" well. The lesson in this respect must be borne in mind. Party committees and their organization (personnel) departments at all levels should use properly the methods of democratic recommendation, democratic opinion poll, democratic appraisal, open selection and competition for appointment, earnestly adhere to the procedures of multi-candidate appraisal, advance appraisal announcement, and pre-appointment public notice, and inform the masses of the Party's cadre policy and criteria, the positions to be filled and the qualifications required, so that the general public can fully express their wishes and exercise their democratic rights. It is essential to earnestly listen to the general public's comments and suggestions. Cadres whom the majority of the people do not support or whose appointment they do not endorse, or whom they are not satisfied with, must absolutely not be promoted to important positions. We should let the general public truly see the result of their participation in the selection and appointment of cadres and really feel honored and proud as masters of their own affairs, and enhance their sense of responsibility and sense of mission in correctly exercising their democratic rights.
To expand democracy in the work concerning cadres, it is necessary to fully develop inner-Party democracy and persist in collective decision-making. Party committees at all levels should further improve the mechanism for discussing official business and making decisions within the Party committees, improve the decision-making procedure, and constantly raise the decision-making standard. Leading cadres at all levels, especially chief leading cadres of Party committees, should enhance their sense of democratic centralism and conscientiously adhere to the basic system of collective leadership, democratic centralism, individual deliberation and making decisions at meetings. On the question of appointing cadres, it is necessary to make sure that anyone whom most people do not support should not be nominated and anyone whose appointment most people do not consent to should not be appointed, in order to prevent one person alone or only a few persons having the final say. It is necessary to give full play to the role of Party congresses and plenary sessions of Party committees in making decisions regarding the appointment of people to important posts. As to the candidates and nominees for chief positions in prefecture (prefecture-level city) and county (county-level city) Party committees and government leading bodies, they are to be subject to examination by the plenary sessions of Party committees and a decision is to be made by secret ballot. When a Party committee (leading Party members' group) discusses and makes a decision on the appointment or removal of a cadre, at least two-thirds of the members must be present, and it must be ensured that all participants have sufficient time to hear out the briefing and fully air their views. After full discussion, the matter is to be put to a voice vote, vote by a show of hands or vote by secret ballot. If there is a wide division of opinion or the members are not clear on a major question, the voting should be postponed.
To expand democracy in the work concerning cadres, it is necessary to correctly handle the relationship among upholding Party leadership, fully promoting democracy and acting strictly according to law, and integrate these three aspects organically. Upholding Party leadership is the prerequisite for fully promoting democracy and acting strictly according to law. Fully promoting democracy is the basis for upholding Party leadership and acting strictly according to law. Acting strictly according to law is the guarantee for upholding Party leadership and fully promoting democracy. Expanding democracy in the work concerning cadres means, with the general aim of promoting socialist democratic politics, developing socialist political civilization and building a socialist state under the rule of law in view, resolutely carrying out the Party's line, principles and policies on cadres, and adhering to the criteria of appointing people with both po-litical integrity and professional competence; further increasing the sense of legality and the consciousness of acting according to law; earnestly combining the Party's demands and legal stipulations with the wishes and democratic rights of the general public; and giving full play to the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of the people in participating in the selection and appointment of cadres.
Expanding democracy in the work concerning cadres is a long-term process and an arduous task. Party committees and their organization (personnel) departments at all levels should continue to promote institutional innovation, and constantly seek effective ways of expanding democracy in the practice of the work concerning cadres and raise the work of selecting and appointing cadres to a new level in accordance with the Regulations.
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