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Reappointments should be convincing

By Zhang Jin ( chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-04-02 13:14

The latest regulations released by the Communist Party of China stipulates that any Party official - who is sacked or removed from his post due to wrongdoing or dereliction of duty - should not be reappointed to a same-level post within a year, nor should he be promoted within two years.(Click for news)

These regulations appear to fix a disciplinary flaw after the public lambasted a number of sacked officials whose careers were revived in another organization or place.

Indeed, it has become an unwritten rule in Chinese officialdom that an official - who, in his superiors' eyes, is sacrificed to quench the public wrath during an incident - would get reappointed quietly. The practice, of course, irritates members of the public, who feel duped.

In this sense, freezing these officials' careers for at least two years should be applauded, because it at least represents an attempt to curb the abusive practice of reappointments.

To root out doubts from the public, however, a temporary freeze is far from enough. The cure to this problem is to improve the transparency of appointing and promoting officials.

The public has the right to know why some officials, fired for wrongdoing, deserve a second chance in their political life. If a convincing explanation is given, people will let bygones be bygones.