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Promotions out for disgraced officials

By Tan Yingzi (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-26 07:51

The story goes something like this: A major scandal breaks, investigations follow and an official is sacked. This official resurfaces later with a new job and a promotion.

It's a storyline that citizens, and now the government, have become tired of seeing, and soon may no longer have to.

Under upcoming regulations, disgraced government and Party officials found responsible for major accidents won't be getting future promotions at all.

"Unless they make extraordinary contributions to society in their new positions, those officials should never be promoted again," Zhao Jie, an expert on government regulations at the Party School of the Central Committee of Communist Party of China (CPC), told China Daily yesterday.

More than 80,000 people in major administrative departments across the country have been disciplined last year, according to an official report.

But recently, a string of cases in which officials sacked for misconduct have been given new jobs or even promotions have ignited criticism on the Internet.

Last week, Shao Liyong, an official in Shandong province who was fired for using public money for an overseas sightseeing trip during the mourning period for the Sichuan earthquake last year, was appointed vice-head of the same provincial administration in another city.

Earlier it was revealed that Bao Junkai, an official who was disgraced in the Sanlu tainted milk scandal in which six infants died, moved to a higher position at Anhui Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau.

"The regulations should be a warning to all officials and make them feel apprehensive, like they're walking across a bed of coals," Zhao said.

The meeting of CPC Central Committee Political Bureau last Friday adopted the regulations but details are still unavailable.

Some experts expect the rules to provide specific guidelines on the punishment and re-appointment of disgraced officials.

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"The core of the regulations is the establishment of a new administrative system and the reform of the administrative culture in China," Zhao said.

The adoption of the regulations is a good move for the Party, he said, but it was hard to say whether it could be fully carried out across the country.

Wang Yukai, a professor with China National School of Administration, hoped the regulations could be practical and feasible and give the public a clear idea on the punishment and reappointment of officials.

"I hope the regulations can fix the loopholes in our current accountability system," he told the Southern Metropolis Daily yesterday.