Since its inception, the Communist Party of China has made selfless service to the people as its fundamental purpose. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that all actions that violate the legitimate rights of the masses, and all phenomena where the interests of the masses are ignored or disregarded, must be investigated and held accountable in accordance with the law. What is the important significance of strictly enforcing discipline among the masses in the new era? How can the "Disciplinary Rules of the Communist Party of China" (hereinafter referred to as "the Regulations") keep pace with the times and improve related disciplinary provisions? How can disciplinary organs strictly enforce regulations, promote the resolution of prominent issues that have strongly resonated with the masses, and consolidate the party's foundation in governing the people? We invite disciplinary and supervisory personnel to exchange experiences.
What is the important significance of strict public discipline in the new era? How can the "Regulations" evolve and improve related disciplinary provisions to keep pace with the times?
Yu Xin: The discipline of the masses is the set of rules that all levels of Party organizations and all party members must adhere to when developing the idea of putting the people at the center and managing relations between the Party and the masses. It fully reflects the nature and purpose of the Party, and is an important guarantee for maintaining close ties between the Party and the masses, and overcoming the danger of alienation from the masses.
The strict adherence to mass discipline by the Communist Party fully reflects its nature and purpose. The people-oriented principle is an essential characteristic of Marxism, while the party's purpose is to wholeheartedly serve the people. The Party Constitution stipulates that "the Party must always place the interests of the masses first, share joys and sorrows with the masses, and maintain the closest connection." The report on the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party places "must adhere to the principle of putting the people first" as the top priority among the "six things that must be adhered to," clearly demonstrating the undeniable truth that "the people are our party's greatest foundation for governance and the solid basis of our republic." Strict adherence to mass discipline helps promote the firm establishment of a people-centered development ideology among Party members and cadres, ensuring they remain firmly rooted in the interests of the people, cultivate a genuine concern for the well-being of the people, and lead by example in following the mass line. This ensures that their dedication to serving the people is reflected throughout all aspects of their work, strengthening the connection between the Party and the masses.
Strict adherence to mass discipline is a crucial guarantee for the Party in leading the people to advance China's modern development. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that China's modern development is a task undertaken by all Chinese people, and it must rely closely on the people, mobilizing their boundless wisdom and strength. In this new era, strict adherence to mass discipline will facilitate the unity of广大党员干部群众, enabling them to work together with enthusiasm and dedication in building China's modern development, ensuring that the Party remains united with the people, sharing their destinies, and working closely together. This will provide China's modern development with a reliable, profound, and enduring source of strength.
Strict adherence to the discipline of serving the people is a necessary requirement for deepening the Party's self-revolution. The core problem of violating the discipline of serving the people, such as inaction, improper action, slow action, and false action, lies in the fact that party members do not correctly handle their power, transforming public power into the private power of managers, and treating the obligation to serve the people as a privilege for managing the masses. To advance the Party's self-revolution, it is essential to focus on addressing problems, strictly enforce discipline among the people, resolutely correct formalism and bureaucratic malpractice, and punish corrupt behavior and negative practices that harm the interests of the people.
Xu Haifeng: Our party has consistently adhered to the principle of developing with the people at the center, adapting to the times and advancing with the times, while strengthening the construction of discipline among the masses. This involves enriching and perfecting relevant disciplinary provisions. Firstly, it establishes requirements for protecting the interests of the masses in the form of discipline, providing a legal basis for punishing behaviors that harm the relationship between the party, the people, and the masses. The 2015 "Regulations" specifically dedicated a chapter to regulations regarding violations of mass discipline, including provisions on harming the interests of the masses, interfering with the autonomy of the masses in production and operation, ignoring the demands of the masses, and unfair handling of affairs. Mass discipline became one of the six disciplines of the party. The 2018 "Regulations" and the 2023 "Regulations" have all revised, supplemented, and improved relevant content related to mass discipline.
Secondly, this involves major decisions and deployments related to the development of party and state affairs over a period, responding to the needs and expectations of society. For example, the "Regulations" issued in 2018 were based on the strategic goal of "winning the battle against poverty," stipulating that serious or heavier penalties should be imposed on behaviors that harm the interests of people in the poverty alleviation field, as well as provisions for punishing favoritism and unfair behavior in matters related to poverty alleviation and eradication. After the victory in the anti-poverty campaign, the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed "comprehensive revitalization of rural areas," which is a new strategic deployment by the party and state. This revision of the "Regulations" implements the requirement of comprehensive revitalization of rural areas by adjusting the description of behaviors that harm the interests of people in the poverty alleviation field to behaviors that harm the interests of people in the rural revitalization field, still as cases for serious or heavier penalties, providing disciplinary guarantees for comprehensive revitalization of rural areas.
Three, it addresses the prominent issues that arise in different periods, focusing on resolving the most pressing, direct, and realistic interests of the people. The 2018 "Regulations" specifically address some problems faced by grassroots party members, such as using clan relationships or criminal forces to oppress the public and act as a "protective umbrella" for criminal forces. It sets corresponding disciplinary provisions. In addition, it addresses behaviors that violate the policy and negatively affect the interests of the people, such as failing to resolve public concerns according to regulations and having a bad attitude towards the public. The revisions in 2018 "Regulations" build upon the non-action and arbitrary action provisions, and add disciplinary provisions for slow action and false action, thereby creating a tighter network of discipline to protect the interests of the people.
What specific violations of regulations, such as negligence or improper conduct that disregard and harm public interests, are prohibited? How can we effectively address these issues?
Xu Haifeng: The regulations primarily address two types of violations that harm public interests: firstly, actions that violate public interests, mainly manifested as improper conduct; and secondly, indifference to public interests, which manifests as inaction, feigned action, or slow action.
Article 122 of the Regulations lists 6 forms of behavior that directly infringe upon the interests of the masses, including: exceeding standards and scope in soliciting funds and labor from the public; imposing expenses; illegally detaining, seizing, or punishing public property; reducing public assets or illegally delaying payment to the public; illegally collecting fees; harassing the public when handling matters related to the public; and other behaviors. In addition to Article 122, the Regulations also make provisions for interfering with the public's right to independently engage in production and business, as well as favoritism and unfairness in matters such as social security, social assistance, policy support, and distribution of disaster relief funds. These are typical examples of violating public discipline and infringing upon the interests of the masses.
Ignoring the interests of the masses, and failing to act, being slow or feigning action, are another prominent manifestation of violating mass discipline. This includes:
* Failing to address issues that directly affect the interests of the masses, even when solutions are possible.
* Being lazy and inefficient.
* Neglecting and evading legitimate demands from the masses.
For example, a deputy director of the Finance Bureau of a certain county, Wang, failed to implement the decisions and deployments of his superiors. He did not promptly allocate the corn and soybean subsidies provided by the higher authorities to the townships as required, resulting in over 1 year of unused funds, with some funds remaining idle for more than 2 years. This severely impacted the quality and effectiveness of financial subsidy funds, as well as the livelihoods of farmers, which is a clear example of inaction and inefficiency.
Party members who fail to act, act inappropriately, act too slowly or feign action, disregard and harm the interests of the people, fundamentally lack a development philosophy centered on the people, fail to faithfully implement the Party's purpose, disrupt relations between the Party and the masses, damage the connection between the Party and the people, and undermine the Party's basis for governance. Relevant disciplinary and supervisory organs at all levels should promptly discover, firmly correct, and seriously investigate such behavior.
Ou Yang Yu Lin: The Yunnan disciplinary and supervision organs have adopted the initiative of "Building a Clean Yunnan," focusing on combating formalism, bureaucracy, and inaction as important political tasks, and continuing to address these issues in depth.
Firstly, we adopted a zero-tolerance approach to firmly address prominent issues. We dealt with each problem individually and systematically. Our province has seriously investigated and resolved issues such as the use of makeshift classrooms by a school in a certain city for over 10 years, the enrollment of "temporary primary schools" for ecological migrants in a certain city for over 10 years, and difficulties obtaining health certificates in a certain city, as well as addressing the underlying problems revealed by these cases, including shirking responsibility, dereliction of duty, lack of accountability, a lack of sense of responsibility, and a strong emphasis on bureaucratic thinking.
Secondly, we are vigorously promoting the targeted rectification of formalism and bureaucracy. Wherever important decisions and deployments by the Party Central are made, supervision and inspection will follow suit. Based on in-depth research and experience summarization, the Yunnan Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision has identified 27 categories of prominent problems related to formalism and bureaucracy in areas such as serving the people, implementing policies, and fulfilling responsibilities, issuing implementation guidelines, and closely monitoring issues such as shirking responsibility, inaction, and irresponsibility, as well as pushing and shoving when serving the people. Since the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, our province has investigated and handled 719 cases of formalism and bureaucracy, involving 1760 individuals, with 965 receiving disciplinary action.
Three, to implement a comprehensive approach encompassing supervision, investigation, rectification, and governance. To address the underlying issues exposed during routine inspections, case investigations, and patrols that involve harming public interests, identify the root causes from a systemic perspective, promote sound regulations and eliminate loopholes, and establish long-term mechanisms for protecting public rights. At the same time, emphasize strengthening integrity education and warning education, using reporting and exposure as an important measure, focusing on reporting and exposing 241 cases of formalism and bureaucracy identified throughout the province since the 20th Party Congress. This involves educating party members and cadres to uphold integrity and fairness in serving the people, thereby solidifying the Party's foundation for governance.
闽ICP备2021006864号-7
闽公网安备35020602002794号