CPC Central Committee election smooth and democratic

The whole process in the election of the central organizations of the Communist Party of China has observed its principles of democratic centralism.

More than 2,300 delegates and specially invited delegates to the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China elected the 18th CPC Central Committee and the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection through secret ballots at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Nov 14.

From July 2011 to June 2012, the 18th CPC Central Committee dispatched 59 inspection teams to 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, 130 central State organs and financial institutions, and centrally administered State-owned enterprises in Beijing to conduct on-the-spot investigations on potential candidates for the "two committees". Likewise, the Central Military Commission sent nine inspection teams to the major units of the military and armed police force to do the same.

The CPC is a political party established in accordance with the principle of democratic centralism. Since the 17th National Congress of the CPC, the central committee has attached great importance to the development of democracy within the Party.

The CPC Central Committee made it clear that the candidates' qualities should conform to national conditions, and help deepen intra-Party democracy, implement democratic centralism, fully follow the mass line, and ensure that Party members enjoy the right to know, participate, vote and supervise the process of cadre selection and appointment.

The cadre selection process should range from democratic recommendation, identification of nominees for inspection and in-depth investigation to proposing nominees' names for selection and determining the preliminary list of the candidates' names for potential membership and alternate membership of the 18th CPC Central Committee and discipline commission.

Figures show the inspection teams democratically recommended names from among more than 42,800 nominees and held conversations with more than 27,500 people.

The evaluation of the people confirms the Party's investigations. Inspection teams also conducted extensive studies on candidates' performance and personal integrity among grassroots people and distributed more than 29,000 questionnaires in 31 provincial-level regions. The public opinion questionnaire covered indices, such as candidates' overall evaluation, moral character, service to people, duty performance, pioneering spirit, integrity and self-discipline, which are easy to evaluate, and thus mobilized the cadres and ordinary people alike.

The inspections helped improve the range of opinion polls, personnel structure and method of investigation, leading to better results. Many grassroots Party members said listening closely to grassroots cadres' and people's views fully reflects the CPC Central Committee's trust in and emphasis on grassroots, and shows the committee's determination to further expand intra-Party democracy and adhere to the mass line.

The nominees who ranked higher in democratic recommendation and won more than 90 percent of the votes in the evaluation of their duty performance also recorded satisfactory rates of more than 80 percent in the opinion polls.

After a comprehensive survey, a total of 727 people were identified as nominees for the membership of the "two committees". The Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 17th CPC Central Committee convened 11 special meetings to listen to the inspection teams' reports and narrowed down the lists of names before submitting them to the 18th CPC National Congress for deliberation.

To further promote intra-Party democracy, the CPC introduced larger margins in preliminary elections to elect the new central committee. Before the formal election on Nov 14, delegates to the 18th CPC congress held preliminary elections to determine the formal candidates for the membership and alternate membership of the 18th CPC Central Committee and the membership of the CCDI.

The nominees for primary election were 9.3 percent more than those elected as CPC Central Committee members and 11.1 percent more than those chosen as alternate members. Nearly half of the elected members and alternate members of the new central committee, or 184 people, are newcomers. And the percentage of newcomers in the 130-member CCDI is now 76.9 percent.

On Nov 13, the third meeting of the presidium of the 18th Party Congress passed the list of candidates for the "two committees". At a meeting presided by Hu Jintao on Nov 14, more than 2,300 delegates and specially invited delegates elected the 18th CPC Central Committee and the CCDI.

Members of the "two committees" are the backbone of the CPC at the provincial and ministerial levels, as well as the military level and above. Also, there are some prefecture-level cadres, and heads of financial institutions, key State-owned enterprises, universities and research institutes and a number of experts on various fronts and excellent grassroots representatives.

The average age of the new CPC Central Committee members is 56.1. Thirty-three of the members are women and 39 are from ethnic groups. And 95.7 percent of the members have received education at the university level or above.

In May 2012, the CPC Central Committee held a meeting in Beijing to recommend candidates' names for the membership of the Political Bureau of the 18th CPC Central Committee. The meeting also recommended candidates' names for the membership of the Standing Committee of Political Bureau of the 18th CPC Central Committee.

The success of this democratic recommendation laid a solid foundation for the smooth transition of the central CPC leadership with unity and solidarity that reflected the will of the entire Party.

All the 25 members of the Political Bureau of the 18th CPC Central Committee are highly educated. Of the 15 newcomers to the political bureau, seven are below 60 years of age, four of whom were born in the late 1950s or the 1960s.

The inclusion of a group of leading cadres with political integrity and experience into the Political Bureau of the 18th CPC Central Committee reflects the Party's vigor and vitality.

All the members of the Political Bureau of the 18th CPC Central Committee have a wealth of leadership experience and excellent job performance. And they are known for their integrity and self-discipline inside as well as outside the Party.

Xinhua News Agency contributed to the article.

(China Daily 11/17/2012 page5)