Vl. Reforming the Political Structure and Strengthening Democracy and the Legal System

The deepening of the reform of the economic structure and the cross-century development of the socialist modernization drive require that, under the precondition of adhering to the Four Cardinal Principles, we should continue to press ahead with the reform of the political structure, further extend the scope of socialist democracy and improve the socialist legal system, governing the country according to law and making it a socialist country ruled by law.

It is our Party's persistent goal to develop socialist democracy. Without democracy there would be no socialism or socialist modernization. The essence of socialist democracy is that the people are the masters of the country. All powers of the state belong to the people. China's state system featuring people's democratic dictatorship and its system of government featuring people's congresses are the result of the struggles waged by the people and the choice of history. It is imperative that we should uphold and improve this fundamental political system, instead of copying any western models. This is of decisive importance in upholding leadership by the Party and the socialist system and realizing people's democracy.

Developing democracy must go hand in hand with the efforts to improve the legal system so that the country is ruled by law. Ruling the country by law means that the broad masses of the people, under the leadership of the Party and in accordance with the Constitution and other laws, participate in one way or another and through all possible channels in managing state affairs, economic and cultural undertakings and social affairs, and see to it that all work by the state proceeds in keeping with law, and that socialist democracy is gradually institutionalized and codified so that such institutions and laws will not change with changes in the leadership or changes in the views or focus of attention of any leader. Ruling the country by law is the basic strategy employed by the Party in leading the people in running the country. It is also the objective demand of a socialist market economy, an important hallmark of social and cultural progress, and a vital guarantee for the lasting political stability of the country. The Party has led the people in drawing up the Constitution and other laws, to which it confines its activities. In ruling the country by law, we can unify the adherence to Party leadership, the development of people's democracy and do things in strict accordance with the law, thus ensuring, institutionally and legally, that the Party's basic line and basic policies are carried out without fail, and that the Party plays the role of the core of leadership at all times, commanding the whole situation and coordinating the efforts of all quarters.

Political restructuring must help enhance the vitality of the Party and the state, demonstrate the features and advantages of the socialist system, safeguard national unification, ethnic unity and social stability, give full scope to the initiative of the people, and stimulate the development of the productive forces and social progress. The main tasks of political restructuring for the present and a period of time to come are to develop democracy, strengthen the legal system, separate government functions from enterprise management, streamline government organs, improve the democratic supervision system, and maintain stability and unity.

(1) Improve the systems of democracy.

As a ruling party, the Communist Party leads and supports the people in exercising the power of running the state, holding democratic elections, making policy decisions in a democratic manner, instituting democratic management and supervision, ensuring that the people enjoy extensive rights and freedom endowed by law, and respecting and guaranteeing human rights. In developing socialist democracy, institutions are of fundamental, overall, stabilizing and lasting importance. We shall continue to further improve the system of people's congresses, ensuring that the people's congresses and their standing committees exercise the functions of the organs of state power according to law, strengthen their legislative and supervisory work, and establish closer ties between deputies and the people they represent. While making major policy decisions concerning reform and development, we must enact corresponding laws. We shall gradually establish a mechanism that will help the decision-makers to go deep among the people to see their conditions, adequately reflect their will and pool their wisdom so that decision-making will be more scientific, democratic and efficient and will reach a higher level. We shall continue and improve the system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation led by the Communist Party. Upholding the principle of "long-term coexistence, mutual supervision, treating each other with all sincerity and sharing weal or woe," we shall strengthen our cooperation with the democratic parties and consolidate our alliance with non-Party people. We shall continue to help the people's political consultative conferences to standardize and institutionalize their political consultation, democratic supervision, participation in and deliberation of state affairs, turning them into an important channel for the Party to unite with people from all circles. We shall consolidate and develop a broad patriotic united front. We shall implement in an all-round way the Party's policies toward ethnic minorities, uphold and improve regional autonomy for them, reinforce our work concerning ethnic groups and consolidate and enhance socialist ethnic relations of equality, solidarity and mutual assistance, promoting common prosperity and progress for all our nationalities. We shall implement in real earnest the Party's policies concerning religion and overseas Chinese affairs. The trade unions, the Communist Youth League, the women's federations and other mass organizations should play their role of democratic participation and supervision in managing state and social affairs, and serve as a bridge or bond linking the Party with the people.

We shall extend the scope of democracy at the grassroots level to make sure that people directly exercise their democratic rights, manage their own affairs according to law and create a happy life for themselves. This is a practice of socialist democracy on the most extensive scale. The grassroots organs of power and self-governing mass organizations in both urban and rural areas should establish a sound system of democratic elections, and keep the public informed of their political activities and financial affairs so as to enable the people to take a direct part in the discussion and decision-making concerning local public affairs and welfare undertakings, and exercise supervision over the cadres. We should uphold and improve the democratic management system of enterprises and institutions with workers' conferences as its basic form so that workers can participate in reform and management and protect their legitimate rights and interests. We must resolutely correct such erroneous acts as suppressing democracy and resorting to coercion and commandism.