Supervisorycommissionsshallindependentlyexercisetheirpowerofsupervisionandshallnotbesubjecttointerferencebyanyadministrativeorgan,publicorganizationorindividual.
Article127oftheamendedConstitution
TheChinesepeoplearetotallyopposedtocorruption.EstablishingsupervisorycommissionstoperformdutiesinaccordancewiththeSupervisionLawwillbethemosteffectivewaytofightcorruption.
LiuJianchao,adeputytothe13thNationalPeople’sCongress(NPC),headoftheCommunistPartyofChina(CPC)ZhejiangProvincialCommissionforDisciplineInspectionandDirectoroftheSupervisoryCommissionofZhejiangProvince,madethecommentatamediabriefingduringaplenarymeetingoftheZhejiangdelegationtodiscussthedraftsupervisionlawonMarch13duringtheFirstSessionofthe13thNPC.
Thelaw,whichwasadoptedonMarch20,setsouttoestablishnational,provincial,municipalandcountysupervisorycommissions,andcreateacentralizedsystem.Thelawisdesignedtoactasguidanceinmattersofstatesupervisionandfightingcorruption.
Liu,formerspokespersonfortheMinistryofForeignAffairs,saidthatthelawcoversalmostallthereformpracticesadoptedbyBeijing,ZhejiangandShanxiprovincesinthepilotreformofthesupervisorysystemimplementedinthecountryoverthepastoneandahalfyears,andutilizestheimportantknowledgeandexperienceobtainedduringtheprocess.
Supervisorybodies
InNovember2016,theGeneralOfficeoftheCPCCentralCommitteeissuedadocumentontheestablishmentofsupervisorycommissionsatvariouslevelsinBeijing,ZhejiangandShanxi.TakeZhejiangforinstance,accordingtoLiu,undertheleadershipofPartycommitteesateverylevel,supervisorycommissionsintheprovinceactasspecialanti-corruptionbodies,performingunifieddecision-makingandcommandresponsibilities.ThissolvestheproblemofoverlappingdutiesamongtheParty’sdisciplineinspectioncommissions,theadministrativesupervisiondepartmentsandtheprocuratoratesinthefightagainstcorruptionandtheinvestigationofduty-relatedcrimes.
Zhejiangtransferred1,889poststosupervisorycommissionsfromrelatedanti-corruption,anti-misconduct,corruptionpreventionandduty-relatedcrimepreventiondepartments.Some1,645officialshavealreadybeentransferredtosupervisorycommissions,expandingthedisciplineenforcementonthefrontlinesandefficientlyutilizingtheresourcesavailableforfightingcorruption.“Thishaseffectivelysolvedtheproblemofanti-graftdutiesbeingperformedseparately,wherethesystemdidn’trunsmoothlyandpowersweredispersed,”Liusaid.
Article127oftheamendedConstitutionstates,“Supervisorycommissionsshallindependentlyexercisetheirpowerofsupervisionandshallnotbesubjecttointerferencebyanyadministrativeorgan,publicorganizationorindividual.”
“Reformofthesupervisorysystemisahistoricresponsetothedeepeningofpoliticalsystemreform,”ZengWenming,anNPCdeputyandMayorofGanzhou,southeastChina’sJiangxiProvince,toldChinAfrica.
InZeng’sview,theestablishmentofsupervisorycommissionspreventsasituationwherethegovernmentoverseesitself.“Inthepast,thetorchofsupervisionwaspartiallyinthehandsofgovernment,butnowitwillbeshiftedtosupervisorycommissions,changingtheinternalsupervisionofthoseinthepublicsectortoexternalsupervision.Thusthesupervisionwillbemoreindependentandrigorous,”Zengsaid,
XuRui,anNPCdeputyfromJiangxiandPartySecretaryoftheCPCRuijinCommittee,wasaballotexaminerwhiletheNPCdeputiesvotedforthedraftamendmenttotheConstitution.HetoldChinAfricathatthesupervisorycommissionsectionbeingincludedintheConstitutionindicatesthatanti-graftworkisadvancingfromPartydisciplineinspectionandsupervisiontothestatelevel,andsupervisionwillcovereveryoneinthepublicsector.
InNovember2017,theStandingCommitteeofthe12thNPCdecidedtospreadthepilotreformofthesupervisorysystemtotheentirecountry.LiuJianchao,anNPCdeputyandDirectoroftheSupervisoryCommissionofZhejiangProvince,speakstoreportersinBeijingonMarch13Lawonsupervision
ChinesePresidentXiJinpingoncesaidthatthefundamentalwayofimprovingtheParty’scapabilityforself-purificationistorelyontheParty’sself-supervisionaswellaspublicsupervision.Self-supervisionisaworldwidechallengeinthefieldofnationalgovernance,buttheCPCisdeterminedtobesuccessfulandachieve“peerlesscapability”toattainacleangovernment.
ZengsaidtheSupervisionLawwillbepartofthis“peerlesscapability,”andwhenthelawispromulgated,China’ssupervisionworkwilldefinitelybroaden.“TheSupervisionLawisanationallawonanti-corruption,gatheringthescatteredsupervisoryforcesandmakingthesupervisoryinstitutionsmoreauthoritative,”saidZeng.
AccordingtotheSupervisionLaw,everyoneinthepublicsectorfallsundersupervision,includingcivilservants,quasi-civilservants,personsengagedinpublicaffairsinorganizationswithpublicmanagementauthorization,managementteammembersinstate-ownedenterprisesandpubliceducationalinstitutions,academicresearchers,healthcareandsportsprofessionals,managementteammembersincommunity-levelself-governanceorganizationsandothersperformingpublicdutiesinaccordancewiththelaw.
KeJianhua,anNPCdeputyandPartySecretaryoftheCPCGuiganCommunityCommitteeofLuchengDistrictinWenzhou,ZhejiangProvince,saidthatasacommunity-leveldeputy,sheisinfavorofincorporatingmanagementteammembersfromcommunity-levelorganizationsintothesupervisorycommissionsasprescribedintheSupervisionLaw.“Classifyingus‘non-officials’as‘officials’intheeyesofordinarypeoplesubjecttosupervisionshowsthatthecountryattachesgreatimportancetoandisresponsibleforcommunity-levelorganizations,andthiswill,ineffect,helpsupervisecommunity-levelgovernance,”saidKe.Sheaddedthatthiswilldeterallthoseperformingpublicdutiesfromillegalactivityandwillhelpprotectcommunity-levelmanagementteams.
“Wemustmeetthedemandofthetimesandacceptsupervisiononourowninitiative,especiallyforthoseaffairsconcerningpublicinterests.Wemustthinkmorecarefully,consultmoreandcollectmoreopinionsfromthepublicinordertobeopen,transparent,democraticandconformtothelawwhencarryingoutwork,”saidKe.
Moreontheway
“AftertheSupervisionLawisadopted,weneedtorevisemanyotherrelatedlawssothattheyareconsistentwiththeamendedConstitutionandtheSupervisionLaw,”saidLiu.FangLingmin,anNPCdeputyandDirectoroftheSupervisoryCommissionofGuangxiZhuangAutonomousRegion,agreeswithLiu.AccordingtotheamendmentstotheConstitution,thesupervisoryorganswillcoordinatewithjudicialorgans,procuratorialorgansandlawenforcementdepartmentsinthehandlingofduty-relatedoffenses.FangsaidthatasthereformofthesupervisorysystemdeepensandtheSupervisionLawispromulgated,morelawswillhavetoberevisedtokeepinlinewiththesupervisorysystemreformandtheSupervisionLaw,requiringthatrelateddepartmentsbettercooperatewitheachother.
“AftertheSupervisionLawbecameeffective,theCriminalProcedureLaw,thePublicProcuratorsLawandtheStateCompensationLawmustberevised.Wealsoneedtoestablishandimprovesomeotherrelatedsystemsandinstitutions,”saidFang.“Inthefuture,wewillalsostrengthenanti-graftcooperationwithothercountries,includingtheexchangeofideasandcollaborationinmeasuresandspecificcases.IfothercountriesneedhelpfromChinainfightingcorruption,Chinaisreadytolendahand,”saidLiu.
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