Rule of law is an essential task for China (Part I)
- By Dong Yawei
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E-mail China.org.cn, October 21, 2014
China.org.cn:
How can we make sure that the Party is inside the jurisdiction of law?Dong: The Party's activity under the legal framework is a hot topic among the public. It also is a very significant theoretical issue, which many people misunderstand. There are two extreme opinions.
One opinion holds that the People's Republic of China is ruled by the working class, and the Constitution was formulated and amended under the leadership of the CPC, so the CPC is above the law and this is reasonable.
The other view holds that the CPC should be like Western political parties and act under the law. This view believes that in any country, the Constitution is larger than the party.
The two opinions are both unilateral. They don't talk about the problem in the context of a nation's particular economic, social and political systems. To discuss this important theoretical issue, we have to understand what the "law" is.
According to Marxism, the law is the embodiment of the will of the ruling class. In a country led by the CPC where the people are the masters of the nation, the law must be the embodiment of the will of the Party and the people. The Party sets the law on behalf of the people, which means people have the right to decide the law, including the Constitution and so does the CPC. At the same time, according to Marxism, the CPC leads people to create history, but it must obey several principal rules, such as the socialist construction rule, the "people as the masters of the country" rule, and the rule of human historical development.
When you respect the rules, you must respect the law, which is the embodiment of will. That is to say, the Party sets the law on behalf of the people, but the Party must act under the law that it made. The problem to be solved is how to deal with the relationship between the Party and the people's will. In China, the people's will is the Party's will.
It should also be noted that the Communist Party is the pioneer of the proletariat class, leading people to build a socialist country. Party members must first understand the rules and the appeals of people and the characteristics of the development phase of socialism, in order to make laws. In this process, the Party and law interact.
To make real laws which fit the rules of social development, you must know the will of people and there must be a democratic mechanism to ensure - the very democratic mechanism is the relationship between the Party and the people. The relationship between Party and the law should be seen in this way.
(To be continued tomorrow)
The interview was conducted in Chinese language and this part was translated by Zhang Rui.
Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
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