Chapter 35 Chapter Thirty-Third

The pilot of the recall or replacement system within the party shows that the practice of using power to supervise and restrict power has been recognized to a certain extent within the party. "Demand to remove or replace incompetent cadres" is a basic right of party members, and it is clearly stipulated in the "Constitution of the Communist Party of China".The required goal is to achieve full democracy within the party. However, for a long time, this principle stipulates that due to the lack of a specific system to implement it, some party members have been retaliated to varying degrees when exercising this right due to the lack of institutional protection.Therefore, it is imminent to raise the principles and provisions to the institutional level.

On February 17, 2004, the central government issued the "Regulations on Inner-Party Supervision of the Communist Party of China (Trial Implementation)", which for the first time included the concept of the rule of law such as "requests for recall or replacement and handling" and made corresponding regulations.At the same time, this right of party members is listed as one of the ten supervision systems within the party. The regulations stipulate that members of local party committees at all levels have the right to request the higher-level party organization to recall or replace incompetent members and standing committee members of their committees and discipline inspection commissions at the same level; The higher-level party organization requests the removal or replacement of incompetent members and standing members of the committee.

This shows that the central government has taken the lead in initiating the recall or replacement system within the party from the level of local committees and discipline inspection committees at all levels. "In my country's current top-down power system, it will undoubtedly face great challenges to implement this bottom-up supervision mechanism." Professor Xu Yaotong, Director of the Research Department of the National School of Administration, said in an interview with reporters. Since 2005, several places such as Hangzhou, Shenzhen, and Shenyang have begun piloting the system of recall or replacement within the party, exploring the establishment of institutional norms, operating mechanisms, and guarantee systems for the requirements and handling of recall and replacement.How is this work going so far?The reporter launched an interview and investigation for this.

Undoubtedly, the provisions on the right to recall or replace party members are to protect the democratic rights of party members, and also provide legal guarantees for party members to supervise and restrict leading cadres. As early as February 29, 1980, the Fifth Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Party passed the "Several Guidelines on Inner-Party Political Life" for the first time: "For cadres who make serious mistakes and refuse to correct them or are incompetent, Party members have the right to propose removal or replacement." On September 6, 1982, the Twelfth National Congress of the Communist Party of China included this right of party members as one of the "eight rights" of party members in the party constitution, that is, party members "criticize any party organization and any Party members should report to the party the facts of violations of laws and disciplines of any organization of the party and any party members, demand punishment for party members who have violated laws and disciplines, and demand the dismissal or removal of incompetent cadres.”This provision has not changed from the Party Constitution of the Twelfth National Congress to the Party Constitution of the Sixteenth National Congress.

In the "Regulations on the Protection of the Rights of Party Members of the Communist Party of China" promulgated on September 22, 2004, this right of party members is regulated as "party members have the right to request the removal or replacement of incompetent party members and leading cadres to their party organizations or higher-level party organizations. ".This was revised on the basis of the "Regulations on the Protection of the Rights of Members of the Communist Party of China (Trial)" promulgated and implemented in 1995. As a matter of fact, in recent years, many Party members have requested the dismissal or replacement of cadres who have violated laws and disciplines or who are incompetent through letters and visits and through reports and accusations.

However, judging from previous disclosures, because such requests often come from the "grassroots" within the party, it is difficult to attract the attention of the higher-level party organizations, and to investigate and deal with them. Retaliation against the accused. The most typical case is that since 1995, Guo Guangyun, a department-level cadre of the Shijiazhuang Construction Committee in Hebei Province, has repeatedly petitioned and waged an eight-year struggle against Cheng Weigao, the former secretary of the provincial party committee with high authority; In the name of "the main provincial leader", Cheng Weigao was sent to labor camp for two years, and was expelled from the party, his salary was suspended, and he was even nearly exterminated twice. Finally, Cheng Weigao was removed from his post and investigated.

When talking about the above-mentioned cases, Huang Xiaoyong, an associate professor of the Department of Political Science and Law of the Central Party School, believes that if there is a complete and sound recall or replacement mechanism within the party, Guo Guangyun can not only report to the higher authorities, but also propose removal or removal of incompetent leaders. way to achieve the purpose of supervision and restriction. "In order to protect the right to remove or replace party members, and to supervise and restrict leading cadres at all levels, in addition to establishing a set of top-down supervision and control systems, it is also necessary to establish a set of bottom-up supervision and control mechanisms." Huang Xiaoyong pointed out, "The recall or replacement system is the most critical part of it."

"The system of recall or replacement within the party is a system for fully exercising democratic rights within the party." Xu Yaotong believes that "this system is conducive to the realization and development of inner-party democracy, and it is also feasible to promote and implement it under the current reality. However, there will be great repercussions, because whether this system can be implemented is actually based on the foundation and trust of lower-level organizations, including the masses, in higher-level organizations and leaders.” Xu Yaotong further explained that if a certain leader in the "two committees" at the higher level now has too low a base of public opinion and trust, and he is determined not to resign, according to the requirements of this system, he can be dismissed by the "two committees" at the lower level. Propose removal or replacement.Then, this requires that the work of public opinion surveys should be regularized, and the indicators that can be dismissed or replaced should be clarified, which involves a considerable workload and requires full psychological preparation of cadres at all levels.

The top management has obviously foreseen the difficulty of implementing the system of removal or replacement within the party. On October 26, 2007, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection made a work report to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and stated: "In the next five years, pilot work will be carried out on the removal or replacement of local party committee members and members of the Discipline Inspection Commission and their handling." Some observers believe that this means that if new breakthroughs are made in this pilot work, the central government will, on the basis of summing up experience, form a more systematic and more operable system to promote it to the whole country, and eventually become a system that can be used by all party members. The system of removal or replacement within the party as the main body.

It is understood that since the central government issued the "Regulations on Inner-Party Supervision of the Communist Party of China (Trial Implementation)", some localities have tried to implement the system of removal or replacement within the party at the level of local committees and discipline inspection committees. In September 2005, Hangzhou City promulgated the "10+1" supporting implementation measures for the inner-party supervision system. Among them, the "Regulations on Recall or Replacement Requirements and Handling (Trial Implementation)" drew on the experience of the National People's Congress in "recall" and carried out inner-party leadership. Attempts to remove or replace cadres.

The "Regulations" promulgated by Hangzhou City stated: "If leading cadres have incompetent behavior, members of the party committees and discipline inspection committees of the city, districts, and counties (cities) have the right to request the removal and replacement of incompetent members of the committees they belong to. Competent members, members of the Standing Committee." This regulation emphasizes that leading cadres can be deemed incompetent if they have one of 10 situations, such as "existing outstanding problems in ideological and political quality; poor organizational and leadership skills, and obviously incompetent for their current positions". The regulation states: "After a committee member puts forward a request for recall or replacement in writing, the relevant party organization will arrange special personnel to conduct investigation and verification; according to the investigation and verification, the relevant party organization will make a decision on whether to recall or replace after collective research; before making a decision , must hear the explanations and defenses of the members who are required to be removed or replaced, and the Standing Committee members themselves.” At the same time, this regulation also proposes: "If a decision to recall is proposed, it will be reviewed by the member and the whole committee of the Standing Committee, and voted by secret ballot. At the time of voting, more than 2/3 of the members must be present at the meeting to be valid. , More than half of the committee members who should be present can agree to pass." In September 2005, the "Trial Measures of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China for Implementing the "Regulations on Internal Supervision of the Communist Party of China (Trial)"" issued by Shenzhen City also clearly stipulated: "Party members who believe that party members and leading cadres are incompetent may submit their real names to them in writing. The party organization in the unit or the party organization at the next higher level puts forward a factual basis for removal or removal request." The document also pointed out: "Party members should be serious and cautious when requesting the removal or replacement of party members and leading cadres from party organizations. Party organizations should criticize and educate party members who do not list specific examples and irresponsibly raise requests for removal or replacement; Those who frame others should be held accountable in accordance with discipline and law." On November 19, 2008, the Shenyang Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China also proposed in its implementation opinions on the implementation of the "2008-2012 Work Plan for Establishing and Improving the Punishment and Prevention of Corruption System": Method." "Judging from the situation in various places, under the basic framework of the "Regulations on Inner-Party Supervision of the Communist Party of China (Trial)", the implementation rules have been further enriched and improved to varying degrees." Li Chengyan, School of Government Administration, Peking University, analyzed in an interview with reporters that, "If the system of recall or replacement within the party achieves a breakthrough in the pilot program, it will definitely greatly promote the construction of inner-party democracy in our country's ruling party." However, when reporters called or interviewed on the spot, they found that the progress and effectiveness of the implementation of the internal party recall or replacement system have always been unexpectedly "low-key."For example, the person in charge of the Research Office of the Discipline Inspection Commission of the Hangzhou Municipal Party Committee said: "I don't know the progress." The relevant leader of the Disciplinary Inspection Commission of the Shenyang Municipal Commission did not accept interviews, and said that "the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection needs to send a letter before accepting interviews with reporters." "Under the top-down power system in our country, if there is no corresponding supporting reform, the removal or replacement of this bottom-up supervision mechanism will eventually become hollow and mere formality." A member of the Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee is unwilling The cadre who revealed his name confessed to the reporter. According to several people familiar with the matter, the pilot work of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection has not been carried out smoothly in various places.Due to the lack of specific procedures and mechanisms for implementation in most places, as well as the lack of basic guarantee systems, the implementation and implementation of this system has become the "difficulty" of inner-party democracy. On November 14, 2002, the report of the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly stated for the first time that "democracy within the party is the life of the party" and emphasized that to develop socialist democracy, democracy within the party must come first. "Inner-party democracy includes two important links, democratic election and democratic recall." Huang Xiaoyong believes, "For a long time, the public's understanding of inner-party democracy has generally been somewhat one-sided. .The right to vote and recall is an integral element of democratic rights." "The establishment of the internal party recall or replacement system is to make up for the shortcomings of the existing top-down supervision and control methods, not to replace the existing party discipline or organizational handling methods." Li Chengyan said, "As the party It is an integral part of internal democracy, and the 'recall or replace' system is very different from the existing system of dismissal, dismissal, and job adjustment within the party." "The main difference is reflected in the different supervisory subjects." Li Chengyan explained, "'Recall or replacement' is a bottom-up supervision and restriction behavior, that is, members of the local party committee and local discipline inspection committee propose to the higher-level party organization to remove or replace incompetent cadres. The latter is a top-down supervision and restriction behavior, that is, the disciplinary punishment or organizational treatment of cadres who make mistakes or are incompetent by the higher-level or party organizations at the same level.” "In reality, it is extremely difficult to implement the recall or replacement system." Li Chengyan pointed out, "This bottom-up supervision system involves a series of foundations such as inner-party elections, cadre assessment and evaluation, and the establishment and operation of inner-party power structures. sexual and supporting and even critical work.” "The recall or replacement system tried out in many places is more difficult to implement because the detailed rules are not clearly stipulated." Xu Yaotong believes that there are three difficulties.First, what counts as incompetent?General incompetence, or gross incompetence?If it is seriously incompetent, then, to what extent should it be possible to be removed or replaced?This in itself is a very complicated matter, and more importantly, it requires the "two committees" at the lower level to make correct judgments based on the actual work conditions of the "two committees" at the higher level. Secondly, who will accept and arbitrate whether it should be dismissed or replaced?Is it the higher-level party committee or discipline inspection committee, or the higher-level party congress, or is it a special organization of the party?What procedures and steps should be followed for such removal or removal? Finally, if the members of the "two committees" who have been dismissed or dismissed refuse to accept, are they allowed to appeal? "There's a lot of stuff like that, and it's not clear right now." From a deeper perspective, Xu Yaotong also specifically pointed out that the biggest difficulty in implementing the recall or replacement system is that the party congress has not yet implemented a permanent system. "The recall or replacement system is an important component of the democratic election system. Officials must be removed from office through the same procedure as they were selected." "According to the requirements of the above principles, when the party congress has not yet implemented the permanent system, it is difficult to implement the strict recall of the committee members elected by the party congresses at all levels, which also hinders the internal party recall system. The implementation brings difficulties." Xu Yaotong said. According to many interviewed experts, there are still many other factors restricting the implementation of this system.For example, the lack of a reward mechanism for members of local party committees and discipline inspection committees has led to insufficient motivation for their removal or replacement.On the contrary, there are many advantages in not conducting supervision, such as good popularity, good relationship with other committee members, and so on. Similarly, supervision has to pay a high cost, which also makes many party members feel apprehensive.For example, it takes time to investigate and understand the problems of the supervised object; if the supervision requirements are not true, they may be criticized or punished.Crucially, the higher the leadership level of oversight, the greater the likelihood of retaliation. "According to the relevant regulations, the request for recall or replacement should be signed in writing with the real name." A member of the party committee of an agency in Beijing told reporters, "In the current situation where the power of the 'top leader' lacks restraint and supporting measures cannot be followed up, Even if he is incompetent, it takes a certain amount of courage and a fearless spirit of sacrifice to request his removal or replacement in writing with his real name." The party committee member also said bluntly: "The recall or replacement system is difficult to implement at the level of local committees and discipline inspection committees at all levels. If it is implemented among all party members, resistance can be imagined. Many people prefer to report anonymously because This will save a lot of risk and hassle.” During the reporter's interview, many party members and cadres also expressed similar views and concerns. It is undeniable that the establishment of a recall or replacement system within the party is a "big move" in the construction of an inner-party democratic system, involving many aspects such as the selection, management, and supervision of inner-party cadres.The real implementation of this system requires a series of reforms in the party cadre system to match it. In Huang Xiaoyong's view, to institutionalize and institutionalize the system of recall or replacement within the party requires the courage and courage to reform and innovate, because the current party congress system, cadre management system and many other aspects still exist and establish this problem. incompatible with the requirements of a democratic system. "The system of recall or replacement within the party is piloted in local committees and discipline inspection committees at all levels, and its significance is very far-reaching." Huang Xiaoyong said, "This can make the transition to the party's congress representatives as the main body in the future, and even all party members as the main body." Explore experience and create conditions for the removal or replacement system within the party." "Of course, the implementation of the intra-party recall or replacement system will encounter various difficulties and problems." Huang Xiaoyong pointed out, "But this should no longer be used as a reason for delay, but should be driven by the implementation of the inner-party recall or replacement system to speed up reforms in relevant areas. , thus creating conditions for the smooth implementation of this system.” "The implementation of the system of removal or replacement within the party must implement the principle of party members first, and do everything possible to mobilize the enthusiasm of all party members so that all party members can participate." Li Chengyan believes that "the scope of participants cannot be limited to the 'two committees' Instead, we should respect the principle of party members’ subjective status.” In his view, if the majority of party members are excluded, the effectiveness of this supervision system will be seriously weakened. "Because the majority of party members are bound to be the main force in implementing this supervision system compared with the members of the 'two committees'." In view of the current problems, Li Chengyan suggested to speed up the supporting construction in two aspects. "On the one hand, we must establish a protection system for the rights of ordinary party members. For example, how to avoid reprisals against whistleblowers, how to verify and investigate reports and dismissal clues without interference, etc. On the other hand, we must actively explore and implement the permanent system of party congresses. Because only when the power of the congress is exercised routinely and institutionalized, can the recall or removal system have a basis.” "It is possible to improve the decision-making method of party committee members and standing committee members during the intersessional period of the party congress." Xu Yaotong suggested, "Appointing committee members and standing committee members of lower-level party organizations by higher-level party organizations may consider not adopting the method of direct appointment, but nomination by higher-level party organizations. , the method of voting by lower-level party congresses and committees.” Professor Ren Jianming, director of the Research Center for Integrity and Governance at the School of Public Administration of Tsinghua University and vice president of the Beijing Institute of Discipline Inspection and Supervision, said in an interview with reporters that the implementation of the internal party recall or replacement system should provide the necessary incentives for the supervisory body. "Effective incentives are supervisory responsibilities, especially the stipulation that dereliction of duty must be held accountable. Any local party committee or discipline inspection committee, if any of its members is found to be 'incompetent', disciplinary or illegal in the current period or later, all members who serve in the same period All should bear certain responsibilities. The provisions of these responsibilities should be specific and operable.” "Effective incentives also need necessary rewards. For example, it can be stipulated in the party's internal system that daring to supervise may become an important factor for job promotion, recognition or salary increase." Ren Jianming said. Many interviewed experts believe that establishing a sound and perfect intra-party recall or replacement system is an important part of strengthening inner-party democracy and an important measure to promote the construction of a clean and honest party style, which is worth looking forward to.At the same time, we should also clearly realize that this work is not only urgent, but also extremely innovative and challenging.