Team News Riveting
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had revised its restrictions on what its members were allowed to say in public in a set of regulations published on Monday.
The revised rule book said cadres can make complaints about their superiors but were prohibited from airing them in public. Also, they were banned from expressing opinions that were ‘not consistent’ with the decisions of the central leadership
The amended party rules, which include new guidelines on access to information and how to handle internal complaints, were described by state media as “boosting democracy within the party”.
In an effort to motivate cadres, the new rules stipulate that work-related mistakes will no longer be treated as discipline violations.
Another article says that party members will be entitled to propose the removal of their leaders if they can prove they are incompetent.
The new rules were issued just six months ahead of the Communist Party’s centenary in July and mark an attempt to inject new life to the party rule book which was last updated 16 years ago.
However, the new rules also made clear that the party, which has 92 million members, will not tolerate dissenting views from its own ranks.
“A member of the party must not publicly express opinions that are inconsistent with decisions made by the central leadership,” said Article 16 of the revised regulations on safeguarding the rights of party members.
Article 11 of the new rules stipulates that while party members are entitled to report misconduct by other members, including those who hold a higher rank, they must not disseminate such information at will and must not do so on the internet.
There was similar wording in the original version of the article but it did not single out the internet.
