Chinese cities extend regulation to Party cadres

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-31 08:59

NANJING -- Nanjing City, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, has unveiled an accountability regulation for government officials and cadres of the Communist Party of China (CPC) to enhance supervision over Party members.

The regulation, which went into trial operation since March 11, has been widely reported by Chinese media during the past week, because in many occasions only government officials were punished for wrongdoing or negligence.

It stipulates that both government officials and Party cadres, which refers to Party members holding senior government or Party positions, will be held responsible when they do not perform their duties or perform in a wrong way, which leads to serious consequences and social impact.

The punishment for officials and cadres includes self-criticism, reprimand, suspension of duty or even dismissal.

"The regulation shows that the accountability system has been strengthened. Party chiefs at different levels should be responsible for major incidents when they are the leaders in local authorities," said Shao Jianguang, director of the Nanjing Municipal Institute of Party Building, during an interview with Xinhua Monday.

Nanjing is not alone in applying the accountability system to Party cadres. The southernmost province of Hainan brought a similar regulation into effect in 2007, which, however, did not garner much public attention at that time. Guangzhou, capital of southern Guangdong Province, is to enact its own regulation on April 1.

"It is a good signal that the local Party committees and governments started to explore the accountability system," said Chen Ru, an academician with the Nanjing Academy of Social Sciences.

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