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Official accountability system to be stricter
By Hu Cong (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-03-09 02:18
Premier Wen Jiabao made an encouraging promise in his work report, vowing
greater official accountability, National People's Congress (NPC) deputies said.
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| Ma
Fucai, president of the State-owned China National Petroleum Corporation,
resigned after a gas well run by his company exploded and killed 243
people. | But building a reasonable accountability system that tallies with the law
will be a very difficult task, according to deputies and experts.
"The accountability system embodies a down-to-earth approach to rein in the
government's performance," said deputy Xiong Guanglin, who is also mayor of
Bazhong in Southwest China's Sichuan Province.
The concept of accountability took shape in 2003, when the minister of health
and mayor of Beijing were sacked for negligence in relation to the spread of
SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome).
Later that year, Ma Fucai, president of the State-owned China National
Petroleum Corporation, resigned after a gas well run by his company exploded and
killed 243 people. The latest high-profile case occurred last month, when a
vice-governor in the northeastern province of Liaoning was sacked over a local
coal mine blast that killed 214, the worst mine disaster in years.
"But a mature accountability system is not simply about firing officials,"
said NPC deputy Yang Caishou.
"One thing must be clarified that the government is an entity of limited
liability and should not be responsible for everything," added Yang, who is also
mayor of Hechi, a city in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
He said in some cases citizens tend to count on the government for things
that are beyond its responsibility, such as mediating disputes with employers.
These cases may also damage officials' careers because of their wide social
repercussions.
"To have a reasonable accountability system we firstly need to define the
scope of the government's responsibility and hold officials accountable within
this scope," said Yang.
In 2002 his city introduced accountability policies that use detailed
criteria to evaluate local officials' performance in economic promotion and
social administration.
Several city and county officials were removed from office for accidents,
according to Yang.
"In many cases officials are held accountable because of major accidents that
have very bad social repercussions, but few cases are about a specific
administrative activity that violates citizens' interests but is not known by
many," said Mo Yuchuan, a law professor at the Renmin University of China.
Every year, citizens file thousands of complaints, asking government
departments to review certain administrative activities that affect their
interests or even asking the courts to step in. In many cases these activities
must be changed or revoked, said Mo.
"The law has very clear rules about right or wrong in tackling disputable
administrative activities," he said. It takes time to put in place a system that
evaluates officials' performance "in a scientific way," said Mo.
But there will be some progress soon as a law is going to be made with clear
norms of behaviour for civil servants, he noted.
The NPC Standing Committee started reviewing a proposed Law on Civil Servants
in December, which requires civil servants in leading positions to "take the
blame and quit the leadership" if their faults cause "major losses or ill social
repercussions," or if they have executive responsibility for major accidents.
Punishable activities also include fraud, gambling or
superstition.
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