At the Ninth CPC Guangdong Provincial Congress in May, female
Weightlifter Chen Xiaomin, who won a gold medal at the 2000 Sydney
Olympic Games, was elected deputy to the 16th CPC National Congress
to be held in Beijing in November.
Chen joined the Party prior to the opening of the 2000 Olympic
Games, when she was just 23 years old.
It
is easy for ordinary people to understand that Olympic medalists
and other honor winners become deputies to the Party national
congress. But they, like others, have to go through the required
democratic electoral procedures, and are not just recommended as a
deputy.
All 64 deputies to the 16th CPC
National Congress from Guangdong Province were elected through
secret ballots conducted at the Ninth CPC Guangdong Provincial
Congress, attended by 863 deputies on May 23.
Electoral proceedings began at 9:20 a.m. and ended at 9:32 a.m.
Counting was then done by computer. At 10 a.m., the result was
reported to the presidium by an election supervisor, and then
announced at the congress. Chen Xiaomin was among the elected
deputies.
Selecting deputies to the Party national congress was one of the
important parts of the provincial Party congress, during which,
candidates were repeatedly discussed. Before the formal election, a
multi-candidate election was conducted to choose formal
candidates.
Since its first introduction at the 13th CPC National Congress 10
years ago, the competitive approach has been used in the election
of deputies to the Party national congress and members of the CPC
Central Committee. It has now been included in the Party
Constitution as a principle.
Deputies to the 16th CPC National Congress, as required by the CPC
Central Committee, must be outstanding Party members. Specifically,
they should have fine moral characters, be fair, upright, clean and
honest; keep close connections with the masses and win support from
them; have a strong ability to handle affairs and be able to convey
people's opinions and suggestions.
Another requirement for deputies is their wide representative
nature. Both Party leaders at different levels and average Party
members who worked at grassroots posts should be included.
Stipulations by the CPC Central Committee indicate that deputies to
the 16th CPC National Congress from Party leaders above county
level should not exceed 75 percent, and average Party members
should not be less than 25 percent. The proportion of female and
minority ethnic deputies should be respectively higher than the
proportion of them to total Party members of their localities. No
less than 50 percent of deputies should be under 55 years of
age.
An
official from the Organization Department of the CPC Central
Committee noted that the composition was made based on experiences
of the 14th and 15th Party congresses and combined with present
situation and realities.
While paying attention to the proportion of the deputies, related
department also considered their distribution, with a view to make
it more reasonable, and trying to cover all fields including
economy, science an technology, law, publicity, education, culture,
health and sport.
Principle of Democratic Centralism
As
a fundamental organizational principle, democratic centralism is
the tradition of the Party's political life and characteristics of
inner Party democracy. Since its founding 81 years ago, the CPC has
consistently upheld this principle and brought it into full play in
making major decisions during the Chinese revolution and economic
construction.
In
2001, the CPC Central Committee issued a circular on the election
of deputies to the Party national congress, with details of
deputies' unit and qualifications, and procedures of elections, as
well as distribution of the quotas. It stressed democracy and
democratic centralism, and the respect and guarantee of voters'
democratic rights.
Following this requirement, Guangdong Province started its
candidate electoral work in December 2001. Some 3.02 million Party
members in 159,000 grassroots Party organizations were involved in
the discussion, recommendation and nomination work, accounting for
96.5 percent and 98.1 percent of the total respectively, an
all-time high.
Democratic centralism has played an important role since the
beginning of the recommendation work in Guangdong. Discussions were
held on many occasions during the course of elections, to pool the
opinions of the majority. During this time, candidates' political
quality and moral characters have been given full consideration.
The Party principle on deputy election has been followed in real
earnest.
To
pool the opinions of the majority, Party organizations sent
publicity materials related to deputy elections to units and local
Party members working in other provinces. Phone calls were also
made for the same purpose. Visits were paid to elderly and sick
Party members who were not able to participate in Party branch
meetings.
For the Chinese people, the 16th CPC National Congress is closely
related with their future. The congress will examine and approve
reports delivered by the 15th CPC Central Committee and the 15th
CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and discuss major
issues concerning the state's political, economic and social
development and the Party construction for the coming five years
and even longer. It will elect a new CPC Central Committee and a
new CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. All these
will exert a significant influence on China's future
development.
Deputies to the congress shoulder a glorious mission and enjoy a
lofty honor. Those who voted for Weightlifter Chen Xiaomin think
she is a model for Party members and believe she will prove to be a
qualified deputy to the Party national congress.
Other provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, state
organs and departments directly under the CPC Central Committee,
the Chinese People's Liberation Army and armed police forces also
accomplished the election of deputies to the 16th CPC National
Congress through a democratic way.
Deputies From Non-Public Sectors To Make Debut
Eight of the 800 deputies attending the Ninth CPC Guangdong
Provincial Congress are from non-public enterprises, three from
Sino-foreign joint ventures, seven from shareholding companies, one
immigrant worker from other province, and one post-doctorate
researcher. This unprecedented composition has attracted wide
public attention.
While addressing the founding of the 80th anniversary of the CPC,
General Secretary Jiang Zemin noted two standards. One is to judge
whether a person is politically advanced or backward will no longer
be based on their property, and other is that private entrepreneurs
are also builders of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and
they can also join the CPC, as long as they meet requirements.
An
article on the People's Daily commented that the comprising of
deputies to the Ninth CPC Guangdong Provincial Congress is
"realistically significant and has profound influence,
demonstrating democracy and creative spirit."
Deputy to the Ninth CPC Guangdong Provincial Congress, Li Shuming,
is a street cleaner aged 35 years who came to Guangdong in 1984.
She won many honorary titles such as "Guangzhou's Top 10 Model
Immigrant Youth," "China's Top 10 Model Immigrant Young Workers"
and "Model Worker" of the country, Guangdong Province and Guangzhou
City. Talking about the fact that she attended the meeting, she
said it is an opportunity given by the Party and the people to
immigrant Party members to voice their desires.
Another deputy, Liu Shaoxi, is CEO of a private enterprise, which
boasts 2-billion-yuan worth fixed assets and a workforce of 2,000.
In 1993, he took the lead to set up a Party branch among other
private enterprises.
Li
Rongqiang serves as chief engineer at the Shenzhen Exploration
Institute. He said, "The congress is more democratic, with deputies
coming from all circles and possessing higher academic attainments
and qualifications.
(Beijing
Review September 4, 2002)