Op-Ed Contributors

Transparency in Party affairs

By Deng Yuwen (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-23 08:05

CPC must promote intra-party democracy and act in the best interests of the people to retain public trust in its governance

A powerful force is needed to steer Chinese citizens toward modernizing and rejuvenating the nation.

In the case of China, the mission naturally falls on the shoulders of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

To fulfill that critical objective, building the Party into a modern-day institution is crucial.

The CPC undertook a series of high-profile moves on the eve of the 89th anniversary of its founding, which indicated its endeavor to forge a contemporary image based on openness and transparency in Party affairs.

Just ahead of the anniversary, spokespersons from 11 departments of the CPC Central Committee made an unprecedented group debut; the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee revealed inner-party statistical data during a press conference; and the Central Party School, which is the highest educational institution that trains mid- to top-ranking Party officials across the country, opened its doors to domestic and overseas media. These gestures have generated worldwide attention.

The CPC was a revolutionary party before coming to power in 1949.

After assuming power, its transformation from a conventional revolutionary organization to a modern ruling party has been slow.

This is due to a variety of reasons, including difficulties in understanding its due role, entrenched interests of some Party officials and significant corruption due to slack supervision even after the reform and opening up policies were adopted in 1978.

The Fourth Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee has focused on strengthening and improving Party building under the changed circumstances.

Democracy and openness are essential symbols of modern political parties that aim to seize political power through general elections.

In order to canvass for more votes, such parties make their decision-making processes, policy choices and ideas public as far as possible.

After seizing the reins of power through revolution, a regime must gradually enter into election mode in order to gain public visibility and trust.

If the conditions for such elections are unavailable, the ruling party should at least relax controls on the country's media and strengthen oversight of its own behavior.

This is the only way in which the CPC can retain its legitimacy as a ruling party.