Strict Political Discipline and Political Rules of the Party
Taking a clear political stand is the outstanding characteristic and strength of the CPC as a Marxist party. The Party’s political discipline refers to the basic requirements that Party organizations and Party members must follow in their political activities and conduct in different periods of time, as required by the Party’s political tasks at that time. Every Party organization and every Party member must follow the Central Committee regarding political principles, stance, views, lines and policies.
Addressing the fifth plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection on January 13, 2015, Xi Jinping coined the term “political rules.”
The intra-Party rules are the rules and code of conduct that every CPC organization and every CPC member must observe. They include, inter alia:
• the Constitution of the Communist Party of China, which is the overriding statute that the whole Party must observe;
• Party discipline, which is mandatory and binding, requiring all members of the Party to strictly abide by the guidelines and principles of the Party when making speeches or taking actions of a political nature;
• state laws, to which no CPC member or official is exempt. As the Party has led the people in enacting the state laws, all CPC members must set an example in observance of the law; and
• the great traditions and working practices developed by the Party over the years, which must be maintained.
Among all Party discipline and Party rules, political discipline and political rules are the supreme criterion of surmounting importance.
党的政治纪律和政治规矩
中国共产党作为马克思主义政党，讲政治是突出的特点和优势。党的政治纪律是指在各个不同时期，根据党的政治任务要求，对各级党组织和党员的政治活动和政治行为的基本约束，是各级党组织和党员在政治生活中必须遵守的行为准则。政治纪律的基本要求是：各级党组织和党员，必须在政治原则、政治立场、政治观点和路线、方针、政策上同中央保持高度一致。2015年1月13日，习近平在十八届中央纪委第五次全会上正式提出了“政治规矩”一词。党内规矩是党的各级组织和全体党员必须遵守的行为规范和规则。党的规矩包括：第一，党章是全党必须遵循的总章程，也是总规矩。第二，党的纪律是刚性约束，政治纪律更是全党在政治方向、政治立场、政治言论、政治行动方面必须遵守的刚性约束。第三，国家法律是党员、干部必须遵守的规矩，法律是党领导人民制定的，全党必须模范执行。第四，党在长期实践中形成的优良传统和工作惯例，也需要很好地遵守。在所有党的纪律和规矩中，政治纪律和政治规矩排在第一位。