We are happy to see the open selections of cadres are conducted in some cities and hope that this democratic system can get enriched, says an article in People's Daily. The following is an excerpt:
Recently, Guiyang has introduced the measures of openly selecting cadres including in key positions like a county's Party secretary. Changsha also opened some leading positions for public competition. This shows the trend of openness and democracy among the current cadre selection framework of China. And it is a trend we all welcome.
The advantages of adopting open selection of cadres are obvious - candidates can demonstrate their talents by fair competition. The public wins their right to know through the open process; the selected cadres are held accountable not only to their superiors but also to the masses.
The opposite of open selection is manipulation behind the scenes. Looking into cases of corrupt officials, we may find that most of them gain their positions by improper means such as bribing superiors and forming cliques. They use the power in their hands as a tool of bringing benefits to a small group. That is all because of the behind-the-scenes manipulation.
The open selection of cadres is a democratic experiment and also a systemic optimization. We praise the measures taken by Guiyang and Changsha not because they have achieved any breakthrough, but because they have realized the importance of democratic procedures and begun to be aware of the fact only a scientific and democratic system can finally rein in cadres at different levels.
The open selection of cadres is an effective check of power. The key to checking power is above all to check it from the start and leave it no room to develop undesirably. With the open selection in place, cadres selected have less opportunities of corruption.
Of course, the open selection is just a part of democracy and more elements need to be added to it.
(China Daily August 27, 2008)