Chapter 050 talks about petitions with Secretary Li

The Global Times published a news item on July 4 titled "Jiangdong Province Amends Regulations on Letters and Visits, Plans to Approve 'Petitioning at Higher Levels'".

The report said: Jiangdong Province has recently revised its regulations on letters and visits, changing the phrase "petitioning from one level to another" to "submitting a petition to an organ at the same or higher level that has the right to handle the matter in accordance with the law." The newly revised Regulations on Letters and Visits have deleted words that hurt the feelings of letter-writers and visitors, but it does not mention whether the regulations regulating the conduct of letter-writing and visiting departments have been amended. Some observers said that local petition departments at all levels often take a contemptuous attitude towards petitioners, so the revised draft reflects a strong sense of humanity.

The Standing Committee of the Jiangdong Provincial People's Congress deliberated on the "Regulations on Letters and Visits of Jiangdong Province" on the 29th. Local media reported that "the revised draft reflects a strong sense of humanity, and many words that hurt the feelings of petitioners have been deleted." ”

According to reports, Article 31 of the original draft stipulates that if an administrative organ at all levels has completed the handling of a letter-or-visit matter in accordance with the law and has made it clear that it will not accept it, and the letter-writer or visitor still unreasonably entangles or disturbs the order of the letter-or-visit on the basis of the same facts and reasons, it shall be handled in accordance with the procedure for terminating the letter-or-visit. At the time of the revised draft, this article no longer existed.

The original draft stipulates that where laws or administrative regulations on assemblies, processions, or demonstrations are violated, or violations of the administration of public security are constituted, the public security organ for the place where the conduct occurred shall take on-site measures to deal with it in accordance with law, and when necessary, the public security organ for the place where the violator resides may have jurisdiction. In the revised draft, the word "jurisdiction" was changed to "assist".

How to better grasp and channel the flood peak of petitioning in the petition system has become a difficult problem that needs to be solved urgently in the Chinese government today. From the central to the localities, party committees, people's congresses, political departments, courts, procuratorates, and relevant functional departments at all levels have set up petition organs.

The revised draft of Jiangdong Province requires that petitioners should be "carried out step by step," but in the first instance, some people suggested that this was a restriction on the petitioners' right to petition, and the revised draft was changed to "submit to the organ at the same or higher level that has the right to handle the matter in accordance with the law."

It has been learned that because the local petition departments at all levels often adopt a contemptuous attitude toward petitioners, and because the petition departments are soft-spoken, petitioners often still look to the central authorities. However, after petitioners complain about the situation in Beijing, the problem is often not really resolved, and as a result, trust in the central authority is weakened.

Zhang Bofa, director of the State Bureau of Letters and Calls in China, once said that letters and visits should be strengthened and the powers of the existing departments for letters and visits should be strengthened. In the new regulations on letters and visits, which have been in force for nearly a year, they have given greater powers to the letters and visits departments at all levels, including the power to supervise and make suggestions.

Along with this news, it was widely followed by major media across the country. In the midst of this concern, the Standing Committee of the Jiangdong Provincial People's Congress still held a meeting in an orderly manner to study and approve the motion.

The next day, Xinhua News Agency released a news release saying: Jiangdong deliberated and passed the "Jiangdong Provincial Regulations on Letters and Visits": Petitions at higher levels will no longer be restricted.

The Standing Committee of the Jiangdong Provincial People's Congress yesterday passed the "Regulations on Letters and Visits in Jiangdong Province" by a large majority. However, the province's major media previously said that the regulations contained a clause that "petitions at higher levels are no longer restricted", which put the Standing Committee of the Jiangdong Provincial People's Congress under pressure.

The 23rd meeting of the Standing Committee of the 10 th Jiangdong Provincial People's Congress passed the "Regulations on Letters and Visits of Jiangdong Province" with 56 votes in favor and 2 abstentions. The regulations will come into force on 1 October this year, and the 1997 version of the province's regulations on letters and visits will be repealed at that time.

Article 19 of the new regulations has aroused heated discussions in the media: "When a letter-writer or visitor submits a letter-or-visit matter in the form of a visit, he shall submit it to the organ at the same or higher level that has the authority to handle it in accordance with the law." The relevant person in charge of the Legislative Affairs Committee of the Standing Committee of the Jiangdong Provincial People's Congress told reporters: This article does not mean that "petitioning at higher levels is no longer restricted". He said that the new regulations are fully in line with the spirit of the superior law, giving citizens their due rights, and neither restricting nor expanding their rights.

What corroborates the viewpoint of this responsible person is that since last year, Article 16 of China has read: "When a letter-writer or visitor submits a letter-or-visit matter in the form of a visit, he shall submit it to the organ at the same or higher level that has the authority to handle it in accordance with the law." ”

When the Jiangdong Provincial Regulations on Letters and Visits were in the draft stage, the relevant provisions required that petitioners should "proceed step by step" when they submitted petitions in the form of visits. However, in the first instance, some people suggested that this was a restriction on the petitioner's right to petition, so the revised draft was changed to "submit it to the organ at the same or higher level that has the right to handle the matter in accordance with the law."

A staff member of the Administrative Law Department of the Legislative Affairs Committee of the Standing Committee of the Jiangdong Provincial People's Congress said that "skipping the level" is not advocated for petitioning, and that what can be resolved can be resolved locally and at the same level as much as possible. However, for example, if the township government causes problems, according to the "step-by-step" rule, it is obviously difficult for citizens to report the problem to the relevant departments of the township government, which is obviously difficult to solve in a timely manner. It is precisely in consideration of this situation that the finalized "Jiangdong Provincial Regulations on Letters and Visits" was changed to "submit to the organ at the same or higher level that has the right to handle the matter in accordance with the law", but the object of the proposal is "the next higher level", and it is not an infinite expansion.

Li Jianmin, a member of the Legislative Advisory Committee of the Standing Committee of the Jiangdong Provincial People's Congress and a professor at the Law School of Jinning Normal University, said that petitioning is a democratic right, and there used to be an unwritten rule that no petitioning was allowed to go beyond the level, and even some government organs used "no petitioning at the next level" as the performance evaluation criterion, which is not right. ”

Li Jianmin believes that the above-mentioned articles of the "Jiangdong Provincial Regulations on Letters and Visits," which have been misinterpreted by the media, emphasize the people's right to petition, but strive to solve the problem locally, and its essence is to guide the people to exercise their rights correctly and effectively.

……

It was still the small and old building of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Secretary Li Yuanzhuo smiled in the office and threw a piece of China to the visiting Governor Xiao, and sat on the sofa on the side with a smile: "Governor, our people's congress is quite cooperative this time, do you think some adjustments can be made appropriately in the work of the Letters and Visits Bureau?" ”

Xiao Chen smiled, took the cigarette, took out the lighter, and prepared to light it for Secretary Yuan Zhuo first, Secretary Yuan Zhuo smiled and waved his hand, and he took out the lighter and lit it.

Xiao Chen lit his own cigarette, and then took over the conversation and said, "Lao Zhao of the Letters and Visits Bureau, this comrade...... How to say it, people should be said to be a good person, but his temper is too glutinous, I think, he is actually not suitable to be a leader. ”

Secretary Yuan Zhuo didn't speak, just smoked a cigarette, as if he was thinking about something. Xiao Chen asked at this time: "Secretary, do you still remember Comrade Yue Qinglan's husband, who is Huang Yihe, the bankrupt secretary of the South No. 2 Mine?" ”

Secretary Yuan Zhuo suddenly raised his head, a little surprised: "Remember, what's wrong?" ”

Xiao Chen didn't go around in circles at all this time, and said bluntly: "I think that Comrade Huang Yihe has very sincere feelings for the ordinary people, especially the people in difficulty, and is very familiar with the work of the masses, and dares to be responsible...... In my opinion, he may be a suitable candidate for the director of the provincial bureau of letters and visits, and I would like to ask the secretary to consider it. ”

Xiao Chen, this is the first time to recommend people so straightforwardly, when he was the deputy secretary of the party and the masses, he wanted to promote people, and he first said it through Yang Yaomin's mouth, and then seconded it, but now that he is the governor, he got up directly. Secretary Li Yuanzhuo suppressed the surprise in his heart and nodded: "Comrade Huang Yihe, I think he is reliable, but now the problem of the South Second Mine has not been completely solved, will it be ...... to transfer him at this time?"

Xiao Chen said with a smile: "The problem of the South No. 2 Mine has basically been solved, the provincial government has prepared more than 300 million for them, and then given two preferential policies, I believe that Wen Yuan and Comrade Yùhe should be able to solve this matter." ”

Secretary Yuan Zhuo was slightly stunned: "Where did the 300 million come from?" ”

Xiao Chen smiled and said very calmly: "Wucheng has an image project, I don't think it's very necessary, cut it for them, the money is more than 400 million, 300 million is allocated to Pengcheng, and 100 million is allocated to Suyu." ”

Secretary Yuan Zhuo laughed, but his words were a little meaningful: "Wucheng's money, only the governor is good to cut it." Ah, don't get me wrong, I don't mean anything else, I mean, those arrogant generals are not very optimistic about the level of our provincial party committee's leadership of urban construction, so I will convince you Secretary Xiao. ”

Xiao Chen actually felt that there was something wrong with this sentence coming out of Secretary Yuan Zhuo's mouth, but looking at Secretary Yuan Zhuo's face, it didn't look like it meant something else, maybe he was too worried?

However, this could not be answered, Xiao Chen immediately smiled and said: "This is true, it seems that Wucheng is not the Wucheng of the party and the Wucheng of the people." When I was in Wucheng, I had some operations on the planning bureau team, maybe they felt that Xiao Butcher's methods were too strong, and it was not easy to send away this plague god, in case it still angered this plague god after hundreds of kilometers, it would not be good, so ah, this is the only way to be obedient, so listen to the greeting, right? ”

Secretary Yuan Zhuo smiled and waved his hand: "Butcher means, bodhisattva heart, we people, if we can't do this, we will not be qualified." He didn't seem to intend to dwell on this issue, so he suddenly smiled and said, "This time, you told me that you should grasp the issue of letters and visits, and it is necessary for me to have an in-depth understanding during this time." The work of letters and visits is an effective way to reflect social conditions and public opinions, to solve problems for the masses, to solve problems that harm the interests of the masses, and to accept the supervision of the masses in the work of the party and the government. Except for a very small number of people who are vexatious and have ill intentions, the masses only petition when they believe in the party and government, only when the masses have difficulties, only when the masses have opinions, and only when the masses have grievances. In this process, if our party members and state officials can attach great importance to it and deal with it in a timely manner, the difficulties of the masses will be resolved, the opinions of the masses will be settled, and the grievances of the masses will be eliminated, and they will naturally stop complaining and boycotting the petitions. On the contrary, if we turn a deaf ear to the voices of the masses, turn a deaf ear to the problems that harm the interests of the masses, pass the buck to the problems that the masses demand to be solved, or even be cold and rude to the petitioners, when the feelings of the masses are hurt, when the patience of the masses reaches the limit, and when the accumulated grievances of the masses cannot be resolved, petitioning at higher levels, collective petitions, and even group petitions will be inevitable, which may eventually lead to contradictions and bad influences. ”

Secretary Yuan Zhuo tapped his finger on the table top: "In a socialist country like ours, the fundamental interests of the masses and the party and the government are identical. But that's not to say that there are no more contradictions in our society. ''An idea that there is no contradiction is a naïve idea that does not correspond to objective reality. ''Contradictions continue to appear and be resolved, which is the dialectical law of the development of things. (Máo Zedong, February 27, 1957, "On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People") It is not terrible to have contradictions, and it is not surprising that there are petitions from the masses, the key is that the majority of our party members and state officials must have a sense of responsibility, have the overall concept of sharing worries for the party and the country, and have 'what the people are worried about, what I think; What the people think, what I do', is good at resolving contradictions, and properly handling the problem of letters and visits. ”

Xiao Chen nodded and responded: "Yes, the interests of the masses are no trivial matter. Every specific problem that the masses encounter and every demand that the masses want to reflect is often a trivial matter in our view, but it may be a big deal for the masses, and we must attach importance to every specific problem that the masses have reflected through letters and visits, conscientiously implement the relevant policies and laws, and ensure that the problems initially reported by the masses can be resolved in a timely manner, and that the initial letters and initial visits will be fruitful and settled to the greatest extent. In this way, there will naturally be a decrease in the number of petitions that are revisited, petitioned by skipping levels, and petitioning by gathering crowds. ”

Secretary Yuan Zhuo sighed: "I have found some things to look at these days, and there are many things, all of which are small problems and big troubles, and almost all of them are the result of inadequate petition work. ”

Xiao Chen felt the same way, and nodded, "That's right." There is generally a process from the first letter and first visit of the masses, to the local petition to the petition at the next level, the collective petition and even the group petition. The gradual transformation of 'small matters' that were initially easy to solve into 'major matters' that cause serious consequences is often caused by the leaders not paying attention to 'provoking' the masses, perfunctory and 'dragging out' in handling letters and visits, 'angry' the masses by having a bad work style in dealing with the masses, and 'bī' out of the masses' problems that cannot be resolved locally. When I was still in Xiaonan, I always stressed that party and government organizations at all levels and the broad masses of party members and cadres must be soberly aware that if we do not attach enough importance to the work of letters and visits, are irresponsible, do not handle it in a timely manner, do not carry out the special responsibilities of the leaders, refuse to handle it, deceive and deceive, pass the buck, be simple and rude, and handle it improperly, any small matter may evolve into a big thing, bringing about unexpected and serious consequences, and we will inevitably be punished by party and government discipline. Only when our party and government organizations at all levels and the broad masses of party members and cadres can shoulder their responsibilities, properly handle the problems they encounter in letters and visits and within the scope of their duties, do not push the contradictions on others, and do not leave 'sequelae' for the problems of letters and visits, the number of outstanding problems and groups in letters and visits will be greatly reduced. ”

"Well said!" Secretary Yuan Zhuo slapped his face, "I also mentioned to the Standing Committee members yesterday that we must beware of mistakes in decision-making and work that lead to petitions. In the course of carrying out their work, if Party and government organizations and Party members and cadres make decisions that violate laws, regulations, or policies, or exceed or abuse their powers, or fail to act when they should be, or if they intentionally or grossly negligently lead to errors in the determination of facts, errors in the application of laws and regulations, or violations of legal procedures, thereby infringing upon the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, legal persons, or other organizations, it may lead to the occurrence of letter-or-visit matters, and even cause serious consequences. On the other hand, as long as we treat every aspect of our work with a high sense of responsibility and dedication, correctly exercise our powers, administer according to law, be diligent and honest, and earnestly safeguard the interests of the masses, the occurrence of letter-or-visit matters can be completely avoided. Compared with resolving and handling the issue of letters and visits, the cost and difficulty of proceeding from our work to prevent the occurrence of letters and visits are much smaller. It can be said that this is a fundamental policy to reduce and eradicate the problem of letters and visits. ”

Xiao Chen smiled again at this time, and said: "But secretary, we can't just seize the criticism of the comrades on the petition front, in fact, there are some times, there are many people who don't understand the law, and for various reasons, there are indeed some unreasonable petitions, and we still have to distinguish these clearly." For example, he said: "The last time I went to Pengcheng to investigate the petition work, a comrade from the Pengcheng court told me a lot of questions, and I felt very sincere. I said two of them: the first was a young man who drank wine because he was greedy for a cup and had problems with his body, so he 'drank to death'. The matter went to the court, and the person who invited him to drink gave his family 13,000 yuan from a moral level, and there was no dispute. Later, the family heard that 'petitions are useful' and that they could get more compensation, so they began to petition. Under pressure, the local government gave them another 10,000 yuan through civil assistance. Soon after, they petitioned again, demanding that the family's subsistence allowance be solved, and that the court help his children go to prestigious schools, and that they would be given monthly living expenses, which were higher than the standard for the children of martyrs. Secretary, you said this, that's it, right? ”

Secretary Yuan Zhuo frowned: "This kind of ...... It's a bit vexatious and greedy. ”

Xiao Chen smiled and said: "Also, a farmer in his 70s used to move his household registration for economic interests, and now in order to obtain pensions, medical subsidies and regular living subsidies and other villager treatments, after consulting legal personnel and learning that it is impossible for the court to file a case, he deceived the court into accepting the case and sued the neighborhood committee on the grounds of a dispute over arrears. At the beginning of the trial, he suddenly changed his claim and the court dismissed the lawsuit. He repeatedly approached the government and put forward his demands, but when they were not met, he began to complain and petition non-stop. Our Jiangdong High Court even appointed the Gangcheng Intermediate People's Court for a retrial of this case, but he continued to petition and openly admit that 'it really has nothing to do with the court', 'but if I don't get entangled with the court, who will pay attention to me?' ’。 Secretary, now that this petition encounters such a petitioner, the comrades below are indeed very annoyed, and I can actually understand this. ”

Secretary Yuan Zhuo stretched his brows and said with a smile: "That's why we have formulated a petition system, this is to create a truly harmonious petition environment, right, Governor?" ”

Xiao Chen nodded and said with a smile: "So I feel that during the period of social transformation, with the continuous differentiation of interests, social contradictions are prominent, even if the number of petitions involved in litigation increases, it is also caused by various complex factors." In dealing with the issue of letters and visits, we should have a more rational perspective and actively handle them with an attitude of seeking truth from facts; we should not regard all petitions involving litigation as 'causing trouble' and 'smearing' the localities, or 'smelling' petitions in Beijing and 'all the grass and trees are soldiers', nor should we block the normal channels of speech and turn a blind eye to the legitimate demands of the common people. For criminal victims and parties involved in litigation cases who are truly in difficulty in their lives, the establishment of a complete set of social assistance mechanisms should be explored, and the units and charitable organizations involved in the petition should also include these old petitioners in the scope of poverty alleviation and assistance. If we simply 'press' the petitioning demands of this group to the court from top to bottom on the grounds of 'litigation', it seems that we cannot get rid of the vicious circle of 'the problem is in the government, the matter is handled in the court, and the petition is returned to the government'. ”——

This month is estimated to be over, because of the release of new books, there will also be some accumulation of manuscripts, and this month's update will be lowered, based on 5000 words per day.

Please also help collect the new book, "Great Qin Wuzong", thank you leaders......