Wit the Fifth Plenary Session of the 12th National People’s Congress taking place in Beijing, Duowei published an article discussing the major problems of the People’s Congress.
One, what is its position or ranking in China’s political structure? Though the People’s Congress is the highest authority in the state power system, there is a “super power” above it. That is the Communist Party. The “People’s Congress is to ensure that the Communist Party’s propositions will manifest in the state via the legal process.”
Two, can it actually have the power of supervision? The Constitution specifies that Representatives of the People’s Congress can request hearings involving state officials. In reality, the Party’s Central Organization Department and the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection appoint and remove officials, so the People’s Congress does not really have this power.
Three, when will it take back the power of taxation? Among the 18 types of taxes, the People’s Congress only established three. The State Council determined all of the others.
Four, how to improve representation? Officials and businessmen have taken a disproportionately higher number of seats. Representatives of the People’s Congress “do not represent people.”
Five, who can lead the reform of the People’s Congress? The head of the People’s Congress tends to be a “mild or cautious” person. “Xi Jinping has an urgent expectation for the reform at the People’s Congress. He obviously needs a much stronger and much more daring person to lead this ‘big reform.’” {Editor’s note: The current Chairman of the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress is Zhang Dejiang who is in Jiang Zemin’s camp and does not always agree with Xi.}
Source: Duowei, March 4, 2017
http://china.dwnews.com/news/2017-03-04/59803615.html