CPIM : Stand on Lokpal

The battle against corruption, in order to be effective today, can be achieved only through a comprehensive reform of our political, legal, administrative and judicial systems and not through one-off or piece-meal measures. The establishment of an effective Lokpal institution is one such measure. This needs to be complemented by other measures.

 

Lokpal: For An Effective Anti-Corruption Body

 

Introduction

 

Corruption has become a major public concern in the wake of successive scams unfolding over the past few years. In a country like India, where millions of people still suffer from acute poverty, hunger and lack of socio-economic opportunities, the pillage of public resources through corruption amounts to a crime of a very serious nature. Besides impeding economic development, accumulation of ill gotten wealth through corruption is widening the inequalities and ruining the moral fabric of our society.

 

The recent exposures in the 2G spectrum allocation case, CWG scam etc. have shown how thousands of crores worth of public resources have been illicitly cornered by a section of corporates, bureaucrats and ministers. What is worse, tainted ministers have been allowed to remain in office for months and the investigations manipulated, in order to obstruct the course of justice. While corruption in high places has been a feature of our political system for many decades, what has emerged as a dominant trend in the post-liberalization period is a thorough distortion of the policy-making process at the highest levels of the government. A nexus of big corporates, politicians and bureaucrats have matured under the neoliberal regime and is threatening to subvert our democracy. It is clear that the current economic regime has made our system more vulnerable to cronyism and criminality.

 

The battle against corruption, in order to be effective today,  can be achieved only through a comprehensive reform of our political, legal, administrative and judicial systems and not through one-off or piece-meal measures. The establishment of an effective Lokpal institution is one such measure. This needs to be complemented by other measures. There has to be a grievance redressal set-up for citizens, based on a legislation. There has to be a National Judicial Commission to oversee the higher judiciary; there has to be electoral reforms to check the use of money power in elections which is another source of corruption. Urgent steps also need to be undertaken to reform our tax system to plug loopholes and unearth black money, much of which is stashed in offshore bank accounts and tax havens. Firm steps need to be taken to break the big business-politician-bureaucrat nexus. Only a comprehensive systemic reform can effectively curb corruption.

 

Lokpal Bill

 

The institution of Ombudsman, which exists in many countries across the world, has provided avenues to redress public grievances on corruption and abuse of public office. However, the fact that the Lokpal Bill could not be passed in the Indian parliament in four decades exposes the lack of political will to fight corruption. Several governments in the past have taken it up only to shelve it later under various pretexts. The present government has also been compelled to initiate discussion on this bill because of public outcry over successive corruption scandals. It is imperative that a Lokpal Bill which deals with corruption in high places is tabled in the forthcoming session of parliament.

 

In the wake of the on-going debate on what should be the scope and role of the Lokpal, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) wishes to set out its stand on the main issues concerning the constitution of a Lokpal.

 

1.    Definition of Corruption

 

Corruption involves a whole range of activities from bribery, influence peddling, patronage or favour, nepotism, cronyism, electoral fraud, embezzlement, kickbacks to officials and involvement in organized crime.

 

The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 has defined the offences that constitute a corrupt act. This definition requires to be widened. The linkage between misuse of public power for private gain or enrichment is a highly restrictive understanding of corruption. In many cases, power is misused to benefit an entity like a private company which is not a “person” as required under the PCA 1988. Often, there may be no traceable kickbacks or embezzlement but there may be a huge loss to the public exchequer and breach of public trust for example through sale of PSUs due to a willful misuse of power.

 

The definition of corruption has to be widened to include “willfully giving any undue benefit to any person or entity or obtaining any undue benefit from any public servant in violation of laws or rules”.

 

2.    Clarity on Functions

 

The Lokpal should essentially be a fact-finding body that receives complaints, enquires, investigates and forward cases to Special Courts where prima facie there is a case of corruption for prosecution and punishment in a time bound manner. It should have powers to recommend an enquiry and investigation suo moto. It should oversee the entire machinery related to corruption cases at the Central level. Finally, it should have the powers to recommend executive action and to approach Courts when these are not accepted.

 

The Lokpal should be entrusted with quasi-judicial powers and autonomy to fulfill these functions in an independent, accountable, transparent and time-bound manner.

 

The separation of powers between legislature, executive and judiciary is a part of the basic structure of the Constitution. The institution of Lokpal should conform to this basic structure.

 

An issue to be considered regarding the functions of a Lokpal is whether it will deal with corruption or will it also perform functions of grievance redressal. The CPI(M) favours separation of these functions. There must be a separate mechanism for grievance redressal. This should be set up by a separate legislation. The grievances of citizens about the citizens charter etc should be brought under this set up.

 

3.    Selection & Composition of Lokpal

 

The Lokpal Act should lay down an objective and transparent criteria such as competence, experience, qualification etc for the selection of candidates for appointment to the Lokpal. The selection committee should be broad-based consisting of members of the executive, leaders of parliament, members of the higher judiciary, jurists and academicians. The search committee constituted by the selection committee should also be broad-based.

 

Composition: Apart from the chairperson, there should be 10 members in the Lokpal. Out of these four shall be judicial members, three can be persons with administrative and civil service backgrounds and the other three should be drawn from fields such as law, academics and social service. There should be no member drawn from commerce and industries just as there can be no politician.

 

4.    Jurisdiction

 

While corruption in high places has to be tackled on a priority basis, for the ordinary citizen, it is the corruption faced by them in daily life and in dealings with public authorities that also needs to be urgently taken up. Much of this sphere of corruption falls in dealings with authorities at the states-level. The Lok Ayuktas set up on the lines of the Lokpal should bring all state government employees, local bodies and the state corporations under their purview. Further, a citizen’s grievances redressal machinery that we have proposed be set up separately, should address all grievances regarding delivery of basic services and entitlements for citizens.

 

a) Prime Minister: The Prime Minister should be brought under the purview of the Lokpal with adequate safeguards. The office of Prime Minister along with all public servants was brought under the purview of Lokpal by the V.P. Singh Government in 1989 and in all subsequent draft legislations, the Prime Minister has been placed under the Lokpal. In fact a Parliamentary Standing Committee headed by Shri Pranab Mukherjee had made precisely this point while examining the 2001 Lokpal Bill. For the first time since 1989, this government presiding over a large number of scams, is unwilling to ensure accountability of the highest executive office. Clearly, all public servants of the Union Government within the definition in the Prevention of Corruption Act, which includes the Prime Minister, must fall within the purview of the Lokpal.

 

b) Judiciary: The judiciary too needs to be brought under scrutiny and made more accountable, and the stringent requirement of prior permission and sanction from the Chief Justice to file FIRs and investigate corruption charges has resulted in a de facto immunity to them. But the proposals to bring them under Lokpal encroach upon the constitutionally guaranteed independence of the Supreme Court. If a mere allegation of mala fide is enough for the Lokpal to start an inquiry into the actions of judges, it may not allow judges to act without fear.

 

Complaints about corruption against the judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts should be handled by a separate body, the National Judicial Commission. This Commission should take care of the appointments in the higher judiciary and oversee their conduct and enquire into the complaints of corruption. For this, necessary legislation will have to be passed. The Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, 2010 is woefully inadequate for this purpose.

 

c)     Members of Parliament: At present, the scrutiny of the conduct of Members of Parliament with regard to any corrupt practice is weak and unsatisfactory. For Members of Parliament, Article 105 of the Constitution provides protection with regard to freedom of speech and voting. The real issue is how to ensure that this freedom and protection does not extend to acts of corruption by Members of Parliament.

 

This can be done through an amendment to Article 105, on the lines recommended by the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution”.

 

Alternatively, if feasible, there can be legislation that if any Member of Parliament indulges in any act of corruption that motivates his or her action in Parliament (voting, speaking etc.), then this act falls within the purview of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the IPC.

 

5. Lok Ayuktas

 

In the states, Lok Ayuktas should be set up on the model of the Central Lokpal.

 

6.    Protection of Whistleblowers

 

Whistleblowers must be protected in order to combat corruption. Monitoring and ensuring protection of whistleblowers can be a part of the mandate of Lokpal, but this needs a comprehensive statutory backing. The provisions of the Public Interest Disclosure (Protection of Information) Bill, 2010 needs to be strengthened and the bill enacted expeditiously.

 

7. Big Business-Public Servant Nexus

 

It is necessary to recognise that an important source of corruption since liberalisation stems from the corrupt nexus between big business and public servants. It is necessary for the Lokpal to have investigations in cases which involve business entities to recommend cancellation of licences, contracts, lease or agreements if it was obtained by corrupt means. The Lokpal should also have the power to recommend blacklisting companies from getting government contracts and licences. Similarly, if the beneficiary of an offence is a business entity, the Lokpal should have the power to recommend concrete steps to recover the loss caused to the public exchequer. The government should normally accept these recommendations and act upon it.

 

Conclusion

 

The CPI(M) holds that along with a law for setting up an independent Lokpal, simultaneous measures to strengthen the legal and administrative framework against corruption are required. These include:

 

(1)            Setting up of a National Judicial Commission to bring the conduct of judiciary under its purview

(2)            Law to protect citizens charter for redressal of public grievances

(3)            Amendment of Article  105 of the Constitution to bring MPs under anti-corruption scrutiny

(4)            Electoral reforms to check money power in elections

(5)            Setting up of Lok Ayuktas in the states to cover all public servants at the state-level

(6)            Steps to unearth black money and confiscate the funds illegally stashed away in tax havens.

A line of struggle for the overthrow of capitalism

Article of Elisseos Vagenas, member of the CC of the KKE, and responsible for the International Relations Section, published in “Socialist Voice”, monthly publication of the Communist Party of Ireland.

This article was written during the important (48-hour) nationwide general strike on 28-29 June which has embraced every workplace. The strike demonstrations of All Workers’ Militant Front (PAME) which rallies the trade unions that work on a class oriented basis have been unprecedented.

The demonstrations and the mass rallies of PAME are different from those of the compromised trade union leaderships of the federations of the unions in the private (GSEE) and the public sector (ADEDY). The reason is not only the massive participation of the working people, their militancy and the measures for their protection but also the fact that they do not merely seek to block the new “package” of anti-people measures but to put forward the need to come into full conflict with the EU and capitalist exploitation as a whole.

In contrast with the demonstrations of the so called “indignant citizens“, who shout the so called “neutral” though misleading slogan “thieves, thieves” in front of the parliament, the slogan which is prevalent in the massive demonstrations of PAME is: “No cog can turn without the workers. Worker you can do without the bosses!”

The line of struggle of the communist party and the class oriented labour and trade union movement becomes increasingly important under the current conditions as the Greek people experience the consequences of the capitalist crisis that brings poverty, unemployment and destitution for the working class-popular families and when the government of PASOK along with the EU and the IMF implement a savage anti-people programme aiming at the reduction of the price of the labour force and the increase of the competitiveness and the profitability of the capital.

The KKE stressed from the very first moment that the capitalist crisis, which the Greek people are experiencing, expresses the sharpening of the main contradiction between the social character of production and labour on the one hand and the private capitalist appropriation of its results on the other. In addition, it struggled against the misleading campaign claiming that the government of PASOK was allegedly subservient to the IMF or to foreign powers revealing that the anti-labour memoranda expressed concrete choices of the Greek bourgeoisie concerning alliances that ensured its profitability in these specific conditions.

KKE has refuted the social-democratic and opportunist positions which are spread by the forces of the so-called European Left Party (ELP) as well as by others, positions that attribute the causes of the crisis to the neo-liberal management because they conceal the activity of the laws of the exploitative system; they conceal that the crises break out irrespective of the social-democratic or the liberal management as the sharpening of the contradictions of the system: the anarchy and the unevenness that characterises capitalist production, the over accumulation of capital which was accumulated in the period of economic growth due to the exploitation of the labour force and cannot find a way out that ensures a high rate of profit.

Over the last two years there have been multifaceted class-oriented struggles against the assault of capital, the anti-people policy of the liberal government of ND previously and the social-democratic government of PASOK today which is supported by the other bourgeois political forces and the subjugated leaderships of the government and employer led trade unionism.

More than 20 nationwide general strikes have been successfully organised in the period 2010-2011; likewise a series of strikes in sectors and companies, mass rallies, occupations of public buildings and other buildings as well, massive struggles with the participation of hundreds of thousands of workers and popular forces.

The KKE and PAME, the class oriented labour movement, the militant rallies supported by our party in the movements of the farmers, the self-employed, the women and the youth have played a leading role in these struggles.

The line of struggle of the KKE and the class oriented movement has made a special contribution to the conflict with capital and the anti-people policy as it clarified from the beginning that the crisis, the deficit and the debt are a product of capitalist development, of the strategy that supports the monopoly groups and that the workers are not responsible for it. More and more working people see this fact today when they compare the state debt (350 billions Euro) with the deposits of the Greek capitalists which in Switzerland amount to 600 billions Euro.

More and more working people are abandoning the bourgeois parties (PASOK-ND), open their eyes to the assessments and the proposals of KKE since the communists are proved correct by the developments. The KKE has denounced the government and the EU because they blackmail the people that the government won’t receive the 5th instalment of the loan unless they accept the new anti-labour measures.

The communists in Greece support firmly that it is the plutocracy that must pay for the crisis as it is responsible for it. At the same time, the KKE believes that the struggle for every problem of the people must develop in the direction of organising, concentrating and preparing broad popular and working class forces not only in order to create better conditions for the sale of labour power but also for the overthrow of the exploitative system so as to pave the way for the people’s power and the people's economy, for socialism.

The CPC's journey to reinvigorate China

Meng Na, Cheng Zhiliang, Wang Li, Huang Yan - What started as a humble group of over 50 idealistic Chinese has swollen into an 80-million-strong political party, ruling over the world’s most populous country. The first National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was held in Shanghai in July 1921. Thirteen delegates, including Mao Zedong, representing over 50 Party members nationwide, attended the meeting, which marked the founding of the CPC. After nine decades, China has become the world’s second-largest economy under CPC leadership. With foreign exchange reserves totalling 3 trillion U.S. dollars, China has become the largest creditor of the United States. China also boasts the world’s largest banking, petroleum and telecommunications companies by market value. The Communist Party of China has brought this country with a civilization of over 5,000 years back to the centre of the international arena. In the meantime, nevertheless, the country is facing challenges. For instance, the per capita GDP is still around the world’s 100th. Corruption still runs rampant in some areas. Where will the Communist Party of China (CPC) lead China to and what are the implications of China’s development to the world? The questions have grabbed a great deal of attention and have been the subjects of much debate. Sometimes history and what is happening presently indicate the future. Solid organizational construction In September 1927, Mao Zedong decreed that every company in the revolutionary army should have a Party branch, with a commissar to give political instruction to the company. This military rearrangement gave the CPC absolute control over its military forces and is considered to have had a profound impact upon the Chinese revolution. Today, such Party branches are not only established in the Party’s strongholds, like army, governments, universities and state-owned enterprises, but private enterprises and foreign-owned enterprises. The Roche R&D Center China (RRDCC), located in Shanghai’s Zhangjiang High-Tech Park, established its own Party branch in 2007. The branch currently has over 20 Party members, most of whom are researchers with postgraduate or doctorate degrees. “We notify all of our staff through the company’s intranet when the Party branch organizes activities or meetings. Our foreign boss even attends sometimes,” said Hong Di, the company’s Party branch secretary. The RRDCC believes that the Party members who work for the company have helped it to develop and grow. An increasing number of foreign-owned enterprises in China’s economically prosperous coastal cities are also forming their own Party branches. For instance, Suzhou, a city in east China’s Jiangsu Province, is home to more than 6,000 foreign-owned enterprises, over 1,000 of which have established their own Party branches. Private enterprises are creating their own branches as well. In east China’s Zhejiang Province, where private businesses have flourished, about 66,000 private enterprises have established their own Party branches. The Party constitution stipulates that “primary Party organizations may be formed in enterprises, rural areas, government organs, schools, research institutes, communities, social organizations, companies of the People’s Liberation Army and other basic units where there are at least three full Party members.” By the end of 2010, the CPC had had over 3.892 million grassroots Party organizations, through which the CPC fulfils effective leadership to the country. Prof. Zheng Yongnian, director of East Asia Institute of the National University of Singapore, said that “the successful ruling of the CPC lies in its strong mobilization mechanism.” For instance, China’s success in holding Beijing Olympic Games and the Shanghai World Expo, as well as the efficient reconstruction in earthquake-affected areas could be attributed to the Party’s strong mobilization mechanism and its solid organizational system,” said Mr. Zheng. Sinicization of Marxism The salvoes of the October Revolution in Russia in 1917 brought the theory of Marxism-Leninism to China. Starting from the May 4th Movement in 1919, the Chinese working class began to cut a striking figure as an advanced social force in the country. In 1921, the CPC emerged just as the times called in the process of applying Marxism-Leninism in the Chinese workers’ movement. Before the 90th anniversary of the CPC’s founding, about 1 million copies of a new book on the history of the Communist Party of China (1949-1978) have been sold since being published on Jan. 11. The book, focusing on the 1949-1978 period, came 20 years after the first book, which documented the history from the birth of the CPC in 1921 to the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. The first book was reprinted at the same time and had sold about 766,000 copies as of this May. “The most essential experience we have drawn from the Party’s history is to always persist in integrating the fundamental principles of Marxism-Leninism with the specific situation in China, and unswervingly follow our own development road,” said Qin Gang, professor with the Department of Marxism Theory of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee. The first generation of the collective leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Mao Zedong at the core and the second generation of the collective leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Deng Xiaoping at the core led the Party in persisting in closely combining the basic principles of Marxism-Leninism with China’s concrete practice, resulting in the formation of Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory. To strengthen the Party building, Jiang Zemin proposed the important theory of “Three Represents” — the Party should represent the development trend of China’s advanced productive forces, the orientation of China’s advanced culture, and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people in China. Along with the rapid economic and social development, the development mode, featuring “high investment, high consumption, high pollution with low efficiency”, challenged the country’s ecological environment and sustainable development, therefore General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Hu Jintao proposed “Scientific Outlook on Development,” which puts people first and calls for comprehensive, balanced and sustainable development. This year, a book, translated as “Why and How the CPC works in China,” compiled by Xie Chuntao, professor with the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, is becoming a bestseller. The book tries to seek an answer for why the CPC can maintain vitality 90 years after its founding and more than 60 years after it came to power. One chapter of the book explains why the Communist Parties in the former Soviet Union and East European countries lost their ruling status, while China has not and will not. Four reasons are given by the book with “CPC always exploring its own development road” topping the list. Other three reasons include: it is reform and opening-up that have been changing the country’s fate; the Party and the country put reform, development and stability into overall consideration; and the CPC always attaches great importance to the Party building. Poverty alleviation Unlike other political powers, the CPC has never sought external expansion during its development and rise, preferring to focus on improving the country’s domestic situation. To that end, one of the CPC’s greatest successes has been its alleviation of poverty. The CPC has eliminated hunger for many people in China, ensuring the Party’s long-term support from the Chinese people. Yan Hongchang, a 63-year-old farmer from the village of Xiaogang in east China’s Anhui Province, said he was told by villagers of his parents’ generation that life in the region was miserable in the 1920s because of the scourge of warlords and bandits. Without proper water control facilities, floods on the nearby Huaihe River plagued the village for many years. Many people were forced to leave their homes, turning to a life of begging. During the War of Liberation, the villagers, who were then under the regime of the Kuomintang, were eagerly expecting a victory for the CPC, which had promised to give the peasants land and provide them with food. The villagers of Xiaogang were right to expect a win from the CPC. They, like most poor peasants across the country, were given land in 1949. Their lives continued to improve until the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), a time of turbulence during which many Chinese suffered extraordinary hardships. “Without enough food to go around, everyone in my family had to go out to dig up edible wild herbs,” Yan said. In 1978, Yan and other villagers in Xiaogang signed a contract to secretly distribute the village’s farmland among all of the village’s households, which was illegal at the time. The secret plan proved to be effective. In 1983, Yan’s family harvested more than 10 tonnes of grain from 2 hectares of farmland, allaying their fears of starvation. Yan did not expect that their adventurous move would later lead to the creation of a household contract responsibility system in rural China, which greatly emancipated productive forces in rural areas. China had 26.88 million people living below the country’s poverty line in 2010, compared with 250 million living in absolute poverty in 1978. It is a great success, considering that 925 million people in the world still suffer from hunger. However, the Party now faces the challenge of ensuring that the country’s citizens live relatively comfortable lives and achieve common prosperity. Socialist market economy Shen Pengfei, a 29-year-old resident of Shangrao County in east China’s Jiangxi Province, is used to seeing supermarket shelves spilling over with merchandise. As a young person accustomed to carrying around cash, he can barely comprehend the way goods used to be purchased in China. His mother Chen Guolan, now 56 years old, bitterly recalls the grain and clothing coupons that she and her countrymen had to use in the old days. Ms. Chen, a retired saleswoman, said that coupons were part of daily life in the years of China’s planned economy, when shortages of goods made life difficult. China imposed a state monopoly on the purchase and sale of goods during the shortages; everybody had to use a combination of cash and coupons to purchase daily necessities. Long lines in front of stores were commonplace. “In the old days, there were food coupons to buy beans, salt and meat; clothing coupons to buy fabric and cotton, and other coupons for soap, matches, coal and gas,” said Ms. Chen, who still keeps hundreds of the coupons. Integration into the world Foreign big names in politics, business and academia are no stranger to podiums at cadre schools of the CPC, but as the country grows interdependent with the outside world, their previously occasional lectures have become a compulsory course in the curriculum. In June, David O. Beim, professor of the Columbia Business School, held a course on global financial crisis at the China Executive Leadership Academy Pudong, a national cadre school in Shanghai. The course, “China’s Economic Future under a Global Perspective,” was the longest one in a three-week financial training program for 50 middle-level officials from China’s financial regulators, financial institutions, and state-owned enterprises under the central government. The course resonated with programme members so well that questions were raised one after another and discussions went over class time. Some of the members even asked the professor to continue the course at night. The reason for employing foreign expertise is straightforward, as acting vice president of the academy Feng Jun put it, “In a globalized world, a globalized outlook is essential for competent cadres of the CPC.” CPC cadres are also going abroad for studies. It has become common for cadres in coastal areas to go on foreign study trips and many of the recently promoted cadres in provinces in the Yangtze River and Zhujiang River deltas have at least a half year of foreign study experience. In the country’s western regions like Chongqing and Gansu, more officials are being sent abroad for advanced studies of subjects that are important to local development, such as public administration, environmental protection and tourism administration. Throughout this year, about 300 Shanghai government officials and corporate executives will receive tailor-made training programmes from the Harvard Business School, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and business and education schools of the Columbia University. CPC is a “learning-minded” party that encourages its members to expand their knowledge in all fields, including science, economics and culture. By stressing its learning-minded ethos, the CPC exemplifies a contemporary ruling party, said Robert Lawrence Kuhn, an international investment banker and the author of How China’s Leaders Think: The Inside Story of China’s Past, Current and Future Leaders. The year 2011 not only marks the 90th anniversary of the CPC’s founding, but the 10th anniversary for China’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). Over the past decade since its accession to the WTO, China has fully honoured its commitments by abolishing all domestic laws and regulations incompatible with WTO rules and giving foreign companies national treatment. Just as Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said, at a forum to mark the 10th WTO entry anniversary in January, the WTO entry was a “courageous and tough choice,” but was “the right choice” and a landmark event in China’s reform and opening up. China’s foreign trade soared after the WTO entry, providing momentum for its economic development. Presently, China is the world’s largest exporter and second largest importer. Globalization is an irreversible trend. China felt the pinch of the global financial crisis as well in year 2008. To address its impact and maintain the steady and relatively fast growth of the economy, China quickly adjusted its macroeconomic policies, put in place a package plan to boost domestic demand and stimulate economic growth. As a result, China’s economy in 2009 and 2010 maintained steady and relatively fast growth and contributed to the economic recovery of the region and the world. “China, under the leadership of the CPC, has provided its own political and economic model to the world. It is an important contribution to the international community,” said Prof. Zheng Yongnian. China is now facing challenges as well, such as transforming the economic development mode, bridging the yawning income gap, maintaining the social stability and harmony. That will be new contributions to the world, if the challenges are overcome, said Mr. Zheng. From Mao Zedong proposed “to clean the room thoroughly before inviting guests” in 1949 to China’s current solemn commitment of following the path of peaceful development, China’s foreign policies always attract a great deal attention from the outside world. “It can be expected that China will reiterate the themes of peace, development and cooperation in its foreign relations. Simultaneously, it will also prefer other countries to be more sensitive to handling issues that China considers to be its core interests,” said Mr. Zheng. “Development is the absolute principle.” Deng Xiaoping said so during his famous inspection tour of south China in 1992. The motto has been working and will still work. It is expected that under the leadership of CPC, China in future will seek more balanced development, or say scientific development in domestic issues, while continuing to seek peaceful development in international affairs. The country’s planned economy worked for some time, but its flaws created obstacles for China’s development. The mixed functions of government and enterprises, egalitarianism in distribution, and other problems resulted in low industrial efficiency, low agricultural output and stagnant living standards. China officially abolished grain coupons in 1993, a milestone in its shift from being a planned economy to being a market economy. “Considering the situation at that time, going with a market-oriented economic system was necessary to reform the economic system,” said Ma Zhihui, head of the economics research institute of the Jiangxi Provincial Academy of Social Sciences. The CPC explicitly stated that it would create a socialist market economy at its 14th National Congress in October 1992. Observers believe this reflected the CPC’s flexibility and innovation at the time. In dogmatic views of communism, market economies are considered to be specific to capitalism. Even discussing market economics was taboo at one time. However, when late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping conducted an inspection tour of south China in 1992, he said “planned economies are not equivalent to socialism, because there is also planning under capitalism. Market economies are not equivalent to capitalism, because there are markets under socialism as well. Planning and marketing are both economic means.” Mr. Deng, who is widely regarded as the chief architect of China’s period of reform and opening-up, greatly boosted efforts for the reformation of China’s economic system with his remarks. However, the creation of a market economy under China’s existing socialist structure was an arduous task. “There were no examples to follow. The CPC was learning and exploring during the process. It combined foreign experiences that were absorbed in the early days with China’s condition at the time. Through continuous reforms and improvement, it found a path suited to China’s national condition and development,” said Ding Yuanzhu, deputy director of the Department of Policy-Making Consultation of the Chinese Academy of Governance. A main feature of the country’s socialist market economy is the joint impact of the government and the market itself. In socialist market economies, the government uses macro-level control mechanisms to restrain the spontaneity and blindness of the market. This feature allowed China to withstand the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the 2008 global financial crisis, Mr. Ding said. “The facts have shown that it is a path of success,” said Zhang Liqun, a research fellow specializing macro-economics at the Development Research Center of the State Council, China’s Cabinet. The creation of a socialist market economy had an incredible effect on the country’s development. China’s GDP ballooned from 2.4 trillion yuan in 1992 to 39.8 trillion yuan in 2010. China’s international status and the living standard of its people improved accordingly. However, some economic experts have said that market-oriented reforms in some key areas have yet to be completed. They say that the CPC needs greater wisdom and a broader vision in order to allow the country to continue to develop in the face of complicated international situations. “The root cause of some of the problems that China now faces is the inadequacy of market-based reforms, which has left systemic problems unsolved. It is important to improve the way these reforms are designed, including market system reforms,” Mr. Ding said. In the past, various social and economic systems in China were reformed from bottom to top. However, today’s grassroots-level governments might lack the momentum to make reforms in this fashion, Mr. Zhang Liqun said. He said that reforms in taxation, income distribution and the relationship between the government and the market can only come from the top. Mr. Zhang is also concerned about the success of the transformation of China’s economic development pattern. “If the transformation fails, China’s development will slow down. Social conflicts will sharpen, creating less room for development,” he said. Chang Xiuze, a researcher at the Macroeconomics Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission, said the transformation of China’s development will depend on the reform of its economic system and mechanisms. After three decades of experience in reform, Chinese authorities are aware of the defects of traditional economic systems and how to reform them. Recently proposed reforms will penetrate deeper and become institutionalized as the CPC vows to push forward reform in all areas with “greater resolution and courage” over the next five years. Experts believe that the CPC has the ability to draw on collective wisdom in the face of challenges, adapt to changes and implement its decisions with efficiency. Despite the challenges facing it, the CPC will advance its reforms by using a practical, flexible and open-minded style of governance. Mr. Zhang Liqun said the country’s socialist market economy is not a fixed mode pursued by the CPC. “It is a path of reform that is meant to keep pace with the times. Deep-rooted problems will be solved through reforms when the time comes,” Mr. Zhang said. “The success of the socialist market economy is an important contribution to the world. It was made by the Chinese people under the CPC’s leadership,” said Prof. Xie Chuntao in the book Why and How the CPC Works in China.
Xinhua

Five parties launch day-night dharna in Bhuwaneswar against Posco project

Demanding immediate withdrawal of police force from Posco's proposed plant site near Paradip, five political parties on Thursday launched a day-night dharna in Bhuwaneswar from 30th June as project-related works were stopped for the fifth consecutive day due to Opposition from locals.

Leaders and activists of CPI, CPI-M, Forward Bloc, RJD and Samajwadi Party held a demonstration before sitting on a dharna on Mahatma Gandhi Marg near the state secretariat.

Accusing the Orissa government of terrorising anti-project protesters by deploying armed police close to their dharna site, CPI state secretary Dibakar Nayak alleged "police beat up people and forcibly acquired their betel vines."

The anti-Posco agitators including children and women were sitting on dharna at Gobindpur, the entry point to Dhinkia gram panchayat since June 2. The human barricade by villagers have prevented the entry of police into Dhinkia area, the epicentre of anti-Posco agitation, he said.

"The state government's efforts to use force in order to break the peaceful and democratic protest could prove costly," said Samajwadi Party state leader Rabi Behera adding their dharna would continue during the night also.

The five parties also criticised Chief Secretary B K Patnaik who termed children's participation in the anti-Posco agitation as "illegal".

"The chief secretary should study history of freedom struggle where children had also played a role," said CPI leader Asish Kanungo.

(Source : cnn ibn)

CPI(M) Greets CPC on 90th anniversary

Com. EMS Namboothiripad and Com. P Sundarayya with the legendary leader of Chines Revolution Com. Mao Tse Tung

On the occasion of the 90^th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has sent a message of greetings to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on June 22, 2011. Below is the text of the greetings.

THE Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) conveys its warm fraternal communist greetings to the Communist Party of China on the 90^th anniversary of its founding.

The first congress of the CPC that was convened in Shanghai in July 1921 was based on a membership of a mere 57 communists in the whole of China. From here onwards the Chinese Communist Party concretely applying the revolutionary tenets of Marxism-Leninism to the concrete conditions of China successfully led the triumphant socialist revolution in 1949. In a span of 28 years, through four major periods of revolutionary struggle – the Kuomintang-Communist Party united front against the reactionary warlords (1924-27); the war of the people’s forces led by the Communist Party against the Kuomintang reaction (1927-36); the Patriotic War of the Kuomintang and Communist Party against the Japanese aggression (1936-45) and the War of the People’s Forces against Kuomintang and US imperialism (1946-49) – the Communist Party of China succeeded in establishing the socialist republic.

The triumph of the Chinese revolution was one of the three major events of the 20^th century that shaped the civilisational contours of modern times. It had a profound impact on the world wide struggle for decolonisation in the period following the defeat of fascism. Combined with the great October revolution of 1917, the Chinese revolution remains the source of inspiration for all people who are in the midst of struggle for human liberation. This triumph over the forces of feudalism and imperialism that had heaped untold miseries on the Chinese people, altered the correlation of class forces in the world to help advance socialism.

During the course of the Chinese revolution, the Communist Party of China had made important contributions both to the theory and practice of Marxism-Leninism. Adhering to the inviolable Leninist principle, `concrete analysis of concrete conditions is the living essence of dialectics’, the CPC advanced the revolution in Chinese conditions. The important contributions it made to united front tactics and partisan guerilla warfare have greatly inspired revolutionary movements in the former colonial countries. Adopting revolutionary tactics that advanced class struggle on the one hand and simultaneously weakened the class enemy on the other, the CPC successfully overcame all obstacles laid by the reactionary forces both domestic and international.

One of the experiences of the Chinese Communists that must be learnt by communists elsewhere is the following: Committing a mistake is not a mistake. It is a mistake to fail to recognise a mistake. It is a mistake not to correct a mistake. It is a mistake if the conditions that led to the original mistake in the first place are not corrected in order to prohibit its repetition. All through its revolutionary history and subsequent socialist construction, the CPC has continuously and constantly learnt from its experiences and mistakes in order to correct and emerge stronger.

With a high degree of maturity, the CPC objectively reviewed its successes and mistakes in the initial period of socialist construction, basing itself on Marxism-Leninism. Based on this, the CPC initiated the current policies of reform and opening up of the economy since 1978 with the aim of building socialism with Chinese characteristics. This process of reform was accompanied by the declared firm adherence to the four cardinal principles of Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong thought, the people's democratic dictatorship, the socialist path and the leadership of the Communist Party.

As a result, China has achieved unprecedented strides in economic growth and modernisation. This in itself has established the superiority of the socialist system over the capitalist system, particularly at a time when world capitalism is going through a crisis and recession reminiscent of the Great Depression of the 1930s.

The CPC has remained vigilant in identifying the negative consequences that have emerged as a consequence of the reform process. This period of rapid economic development, unprecedented in human history in any other country, has also resulted in serious distortions in social life that are being addressed. The CPI(M) wishes the CPC all success in this declared aim to combat and overcome all the negative consequences that have emerged in recent decades.

India and China account for over 40 per cent of the world’s population. They are two ancient civilizations that share a common history of profound significance and interaction over many a millennia. The CPI(M) accords utmost importance in improving relations between our two countries and peoples.

On this historic occasion of the 90^th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China we convey our warm communist greetings to all members of the CPC. We are confident that given its own historical experience, the CPC will overcome all negative features and consolidate the process of strengthening of socialism and socialist construction in the People’s Republic of China.

Long Live the Communist Party of China

Long Live India-China Friendship

Long Live CPC-CPI(M) Fraternity

90th Anniversary celebrations of Communist party of China begins

Communist Party of China began its 90th anniversary celebrations across the country on Friday. Founded in July 1921, the party came to power in 1949 after the long civil war which ended in the defeat of the Nationalist Party. Nine decades ago, 13 individuals met and founded the Communist Party in a brick-and-wood building in the French concession area of Shanghai, though the meeting was eventually moved to a boat on Nanhu Lake.

China has since emerged as the world's second-largest economy, with GDP growth in the double digits for years, and has become a major exporter and holder of the world's largest foreign exchange reserves. Party has planned various types of programmes including seminars, exhibitions, book release etc as part of the anniversary celebrations. In east Zhejiang Province, a new memorial opened Thursday in memory of the first National Congress of the Party. The memorial covers 2.73 hectares near Nanhu Lake in Jiaxing and features more than 800 items from the first party members.

The Anniversary celebrations began with the flag raising ceremony. More than 30,000 people from all over China gathered in Beijing's Tian'anmen Square for a flag-raising ceremony early Friday morning in celebration of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

At 4:48 a.m., the country's flag was hoisted, with the entire crowd joining in a vocal rendition of the national anthem. Tibetan students and children who became handicapped after being injured in the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake were present at the ceremony.

"People in Sichuan [Province] have regained their confidence in the three years since the devastating Wenchuan earthquake. We have received great support from the CPC and our motherland," said Zhang Wei, the leader of a group of 30 handicapped children attending the ceremony.

"We got up at 1 a.m. to attend the ceremony," said Padma Yangzom, a primary school student from Nedong County in northwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. Gyezang, a teacher leading the group of Tibetan students, said it was the first time for the students to watch the flag-raising ceremony at Tian'anmen Square, adding that they were "very excited." "The CPC has encountered some hardships over the past 90 years. I hope that under the leadership of the CPC, our country will continue to become greater," Gyezang said.

Grand gathering marking 90th anniversary of CPC opens
A grand gathering marking the 90th anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) opened at the Great Hall of the People in downtown Bejing Friday morning. Wu Bangguo, a Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, declared the opening of the rally, followed by a 6,000-people choir of China's national anthem.

Hu Jintao, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang were present at the rally.

Xi Jinping, a Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, announced a decision to commend outstanding CPC grassroots units, members and Party workers at the gathering.


CPC accomplishes three major events in 90 years: Hu Jintao

The Communist Party of China (CPC), chosen by history and the people, has accomplished three major events since its formation 90 years ago, President Hu Jintao said Friday.

The first is that the CPC, relying on the people, completed the new-democratic revolution, winning national independence and liberation of the people, Hu said at a grand gathering marking the 90th founding anniversary of the CPC.

The second is that the CPC completed the socialist revolution and established the basic socialist system, he said.

The third is that the Party carried out a great new revolution of reform and opening up, creating, upholding, and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics, he said.

"These three major events reshaped the future and destiny of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation," Hu said.

Centre has made lives of poor miserable: Brinda Karat

Terming the diesel and domestic LPG price hike a ‘brazen attack' on women, speakers at a public meeting held in connection with the 12th State conference of AIDWA here on Wednesday night launched a scathing attack on the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre for allegedly pursuing the policies of “enriching the rich and impoverishing the poor”.

Addressing a huge gathering of women at the Pavilion Grounds here, the CPI (M) Polit Bureau member and MP Brinda Karat alleged that the UPA government had made the lives of poor miserable by resorting to steep hike in fuel and domestic LPG prices. "The women are the worst hit by the fuel price rise in view of its cascading effect," she said and accused the UPA government of betraying the faith of the poor after obtaining mandate in the name of welfare of Aam Admi (common man).

She said the increase showed unabashed opportunism of the UPA government which hiked the fuel prices after the elections to various states when the international crude oil prices had dropped to $90 per barrel. The government should make public the production cost of one litre of diesel and the revenue it was earning through the price increase, she said. The rich were growing richer while the poor were suffering the brunt of price rise, she said.

This government does not have the guts to bring back the black money stashed in foreign banks and will to contain the large scale corruption that assumed epidemic proportions in the country, she charged.

Taking a dig at Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, she said, “He cannot manage his own party. How can he run the government?” she questioned. The State government was least bothered about the irrigation projects in the region as was evident from its utter neglect of Dummugudem project in Khammam district, she alleged and accused the government of promoting liquor sales.

AIDWA general secretary Sudha Sundararaman flayed the Planning Commission's 'new definition' of Below Poverty Line. “Let the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee stay for a few days in the rural areas and run their families with a daily expenditure of Rs 15 to demonstrate that one could live with that meagre amount. Freedom fighter Mallu Swarajyam, AIDWA State president T Jyothi, and vice-president S Punyavathi participated.

(Courtesy :The Hindu)