Communist Party bans flowers and fancy food to stop scandals and reign in corruption
Beijing (AsiaNews) - The Politburo of the Communist Party has decided to revamp the working style of senior officials, calling on top leaders to be more frugal in an effort to win back "lost trust". Party bosses would no longer receive the red carpet treatment. There will be less fancy food and fewer flower arrangements, and more thrift and respect for public goods. In its first step since taking over, Xi Jinping has launched a morality campaign. Although a princeling, he is going back to the Communist Party's roots.
The new approach is aimed at stopping popular anger. Squeezed between a widening gap between rich and poor and the third year of slower economic growth, the average Chinese has started to looked closer at the scandals and the corruption of the last few years in the Communist Party, which wants to climb out of its hole with the new guidelines adopted yesterday by the new 7-member Standing Committee.
"We will make clear our determination to improve our style of work and to solve the problems that the masses are particular discontented with," the Standing Committee's statement said. "The style of officials, particularly top officials, has an important impact upon the style of the party and the style of the government and even on the whole of society. [. . .] Such a working style must first start with the members of the Politburo. If you want people to do something then do it yourself first; if you don't want somebody to do something then certainly do not do it yourself."
For some analysts, the statement issued just over two weeks after the party's leadership transition, reflects the new leadership's desire to win back people's trust in government, but it will take time to see if the measures could be implemented.
Not all Communist leaders may remain in power, except for Standing Committee members, who have always been safe. Om fact, a series of scandals involving financial issues have rocked the party and tarnished top officials in the party and the government.
For instance, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, who will be replaced in March by Li Keqiang, has been investigated by the New York Times. The US paper published detailed accounts of his family financial assets, estimated to be around US$ 2.7 billion. Despite official Chinese denials, the allegations appear credible.
Party secretary Xi Jinping's family has also unusually extensive assets. According to Bloomberg, the new leader's family is worth a billion dollars. However, the media company notes that Xi, his wife or daughter are not personally involved.
In the case of former Railway Minister Liu Zhijun, allegations that he accepted bribes ended with his removal.
The extended families of ousted Chongqing party boss Bo Xilai and his wife, Gu Kailai, accumulated at least US$ 136 million in company shares and property.
Sichuan deputy party secretary Li Chuncheng, who was named an alternate member of the Communist Party's Central Committee last month, has been placed under investigation for breaching party discipline.
Despite attempts to block the New York Times and Bloomberg, and guide national media on corruption issues, ordinary Chinese have been able to learn about these scandals and have been angered.
Using pseudonyms, many microbloggers have wondered how Wen's 90-year-old mother or Xi Jinping's unemployed brother-in-law were able to earn millions of dollars.
The new politburo guidelines are aimed at reducing public anger. However, "The most serious problem of the system now is not that officials are wasting too much money on meals and flowers, but that so many officials are embezzling public funds and state assets," said Ho-Fung Hung, an associate professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University. "If they are serious about fighting corruption, the proper first step would be to try establishing regulations that force all officials to disclose the amount and sources of their private wealth."
In this, the southern province of Guangdong is already up and running. Recently, it announced new regulations that require officials to release information about their assets.
"From next year, officials who are to be promoted will be required to declare their personal and family assets, provide information about any investments and private businesses, and say whether they have kept a clean record during their political careers," said Guangdong's party disciplinary chief Huang Xianyao.
However, there is no effective supervisory mechanism to verify whether officials declare their assets honestly," Dr Peng Peng, a senior researcher with the Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences, added.
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