A peep into China’s Consultative democracy

beijingwalker · Mar 15, 2022

A peep into China’s Consultative democracy

15th March 2022

By Charles Onunaiju

China’s routine consultative and inclusive national democratic political process assumes color and even pageantry, when the country’s top advisory and legislative chambers converge in full session at the country’s capital every first quarter of the year to consider the work of its standing committees or permanent organs and the work report of the government or the state council.

The “two sessions” as it is known, comprise of the full sessions of the top advisory body called “Chinese People’s political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the China’s Supreme State Organ and Legislative body, the “National People’s Congress (NPC). The work of the two bodies is carried out on routine basis through standing committees or permanent organs elected by the general session of the two representative institutions.

The significance of the two broadly representative institutions were in the historic choice made by the Chinese people to build the widest coalition and alliances of people of all walks of life and groups with diverse faith, views, affiliations and interest in united front with the Communist party of China at the core and a determination to construct national consensus.

The platform of the two institutions not only affords the Chinese people the opportunity to forge strong solidarity, ideologically and politically but also organizationally.

And if building coalitions and alliances is the core of democratic politics, the Communist Party of China phenomenally saw early enough its historic ambience and integrated it in their then, emerging national political culture in which “the system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation led by the Communist party of China (CPC) will exist and develop in China for a long time to come”.

The system of multi-party cooperation and engagement of all social strata through the platform of inclusive institution does not vitiate the pluralism of diverse views and ideas but rather harness and harmonize them into policy agenda that feeds the consensus on national goals.

China’s national political life and process is not rancorous because it forged a broad platform of political inclusion in which all critical segments of society who are vital stake holders are represented.

The convocation of the full sessions of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPCC) and the National People’s Congress (NPC) are colorful political event but are far from a jamboree. The “two sessions” as they have become widely known are institutional framework for distilling the collective wisdom of the Chinese people into actionable policies and laws.

The system of multi-party cooperation and elaborate consultations across all strata of society, characteristic of China’s inclusive political process is expressed in the broad and functional representation in the Chinese people political consultative conference (CPPCC) and the National People’s Congress (NPC).

Both institutions are historical realities earlier grasped by the Communist party of China(CPC) that no one political tendency, despite its sophistication could exclusively drive a political agenda of sustainable and inclusive development without the inputs of the broad section of the people.

Through the institutional framework of CPPCC and NPC, diverse views and political tendencies have been accommodated. The absence of bitter partisan acrimony in China’s national political life is not because there is no opposing views and even clash of ideas but because the ambiance of the political space is wide enough and also because a consensus exist on the basic system and frame-work of the country’s political life.

The National People’s Congress is the Supreme structural and institutional expression of state authority, the Chinese People Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a top advisory body, is the boldest framework of China’s inclusive and consultative democracy.

Built from the democratic consultations of the Chinese Communist Party in the years of revolutionary struggle in base areas, it was essentially a network of rudimentary administration in which the Party offered a platform of broad participation of all Chinese peoples despite party affiliations, ethnic background or religious belief.

The practice gave the Chinese revolution a unique character of an inclusive revolutionary united front, eschewing sectarianism and Puritanism, which with the benefit of hindsight hobbled most revolutionary communist parties and blighted them from constructing broad and inclusive socialist states.

The CPPCC was the first formal institution of Chinese modern state and actually offered the all-inclusive China platform for the founding of China’s modern state.

Performing even legislative roles until 1954, when it gave effect to the National People’s Congress, NPC as top legislative body, the CPPCC has continued to play vital role in China’s political life, shaping and strengthening her consultative socialist democracy, forging national consensus on key issues by providing quality advisory inputs to strategic policy decision.

Consisting of the representatives of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and non-Communist Parties, personages without party affiliations, representatives of peoples and popular organizations like trade unions, women groups, etc, ethnic minorities, Chinese from special administrative regions – Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan and even oversea Chinese in Diaspora and other various social strata, the CPPCC is a unique blend of Chinese revolutionary experience and contemporary modern political challenge of accommodation and inclusion of emerging forces and trends in China’s political life.

The CPPCC engages broadly in all key issues of China political life, gives effect to open market of ideas of its diverse actors and channel its top quality advisories to key state organs for effective policy outcomes. Serious and focused, it is no theater of absurdities.

Almost the structural representation of the civic conscience of the Chinese people, its work outside the state and the party, however, complements and enriches the party and state in the never ending drive of reform and innovation, the twin engines of contemporary Chinese society.

As a non-state organ of political consultation and democratic cooperation, it has antennas for capturing the diverse Chinese political voices, which it articulates and aggregates as solid inputs to the state. As an all- encompassing platform, its roles in China’s transition to a new era is both pivotal and indispensable.

Coalescing with the National People’s Congress (NPC), but never in conflict or competition with it, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), whose annual sitting is almost at the same time with NPC, constitute the “two Session” of China’s famous political season, are the elemental driver of the country’s political life.

Coming this year after the successful convocation of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, last October in which far-reaching decisions were reinforced to complete the building of moderately prosperous society in the next four years, the “two session” of the NPC and the CPPCC offers the critical policy inputs and roadmap, for which the state must diligently follow to execute and actualize policies to the material improvements to the living conditions of the people, their cultural advancement and the course of social harmony.

The China’s “two session” is an important season in the country’s political life, a trend setter of its popular socialist democracy, and culmination of a vigorous grassroots democratic process, in which the Chinese people demonstrate unequivocally that they are the masters of their own country.

The process on display in both the activities leading to the “two sessions” and the “two sessions” itself proper, are uniquely Chinese but also offers broad lessons in deepening substantive democracy that gives tangible reliefs to the existential needs of the people.

The “two sessions” of this year came against the background of China’s monumental achievement in ending absolute poverty among its 1.4 billion people and a program of rural revitalization designed to keep people moving up the social latter without regressing to poverty again. More importantly, the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China will hold this year, which is another platform to define a new quality trajectory in China’s enigmatic march to a new era.

Africa, whose current democratic experience and parliamentary practice, are basically derived from western political system can examine itself in the mirror, reach out to its historic fine tradition of consultation and inclusion in order to give true meaning to its democratic life and offer tangible relief to the people’s material, social and cultural needs.