Xinhua Insight: Strict delegate election procedures for upcoming CPC congress

After three months' nomination, examination and election, Wang Fucun is on the final delegate candidate list for the upcoming national congress of the Communist Party of China.

Wang is a village Party head of Gaomiao Township in the city of Haidong, northwest China's Qinghai Province.

At the end of this month, the CPC Qinghai Provincial Committee will vote from a candidate list consisting of Wang and 32 others to determine the delegates for the 19th CPC National Congress later this year.

"I'm glad that my work and conducts are recognized by Party members and people recommending me. No matter whether I'm elected, I have felt a huge responsibility," he said.

Nationwide, a total of 2,300 delegates will be elected before June to represent China's 88 million CPC members to take part in the national congress.

The meeting, slated for the second half of the year in Beijing, will discuss and set the future direction for the Party and state, as well as elect a new central leadership.

Li Changlong, secretary of CPC Gaomiao Township Committee, remembered how Wang was initially nominated.

"Our committee organized a meeting involving 23 Party branches across the township as required on January 18. Six candidates, including Wang, were nominated," he said.

Three days after the committee submitted the candidate list to the higher administrative level, Ledu District, the CPC Ledu District Committee sent a team to examine their files and solicit public opinion.

"The key of their visit was to check whether they had corruption issues or public complaints against them," Li said.

Similar procedures were performed by CPC committees of district, city and provincial levels in the following months, shortening the list of 87 candidates to 33.

After retiring from the army in the 1980s, Wang organized villagers in his hometown to work as construction workers in the cities, helping the village to shake off poverty. He was elected as head of the village in 2005 and Party head of the village in 2014.

The nationwide drive to enhance rural areas since 2009 brought challenges as well as opportunities to Wang.

Facing numerous village affairs such as road construction, garbage collection and house renovations, Wang established a standard procedure to deal with village affairs to ensure transparency and public participation.

The procedure requires each project be discussed by the village committee and Party branch of the village for a solution, followed by a CPC member deliberation, a full village vote and complete disclosure on the project and its solution.

"With the standard procedure, we are able to supervise the village affairs in a transparent way and have our questions responded in time," said Wang Kerong, one of the villagers nominating the veteran.

According to the election work plan of the province issued by the Organization Department of CPC Qinghai Provincial Committee, the entire nomination, examination and election process would show "zero-tolerance" to CPC members with flaws.

Candidates found with fake files, problems with corruption, or those that engage in drug use, gambling, prostituting or drink driving are exempt, according to the plan.

Disciplinary departments are requested to investigate any public complaints.

To welcome wide participation, authorities in the provincial capital Xining wrote a public letter to all CPC members, which was published across a range of media. It was also translated to Tibetan, which many in the city speak.

Fan Peiyou, a poverty relief worker in Zhujiazhuang village, Huangzhong County, said 35 CPC members of the village had discussed the nominees on three occasions.

"The task force visited CPC members with walking difficulties at home to listen to their opinions, and those who work in cities were solicited for comments via WeChat," he said.

Statistics show 99.2 percent of the CPC members of the province participated in the grassroots nomination, with 24,000 making comments.

A 32-member examination panel was also organized to examine the candidates and solicit opinions on them.

Xu Xinge, deputy head of Organization Department of CPC Qinghai Provincial Committee, said widespread public participation had also created solutions on particular issues.

"Since we have asked opinions from all parties related to the candidates, including their superiors, subordinates, colleagues and the people they serve, some previously unnoticed problems emerged," he said."With the comprehensive election procedure, problematic CPC members will be banned from becoming delegates." Endi