Public opinions well represented in local laws

chinadaily.com.cn Updated: 2022-01-12

The first education base for study and practice of the whole-process people's democracy in Qingyuan city, Guangdong province was launched at the administrative and cultural center in its Qingcheng district on Dec 31.

The base aims to make people from all walks of life better understand the socialist democratic politics with Chinese characteristics and build itself into a fresh carrier and a resounding brand for publicity and demonstration of the whole-process people's democracy. It will carry out a series of learning and educational practices such as theoretical research, learning forums, platform construction and on-site teaching experiences.  

Since it was approved to exercise local legislative power in 2015, the standing committee of the Qingyuan city's  people's congress has taken legislative work as a key measure to advance the whole-process people's democracy and is committed to solving longstanding problems with down-to-earth legislation.

Legislative items in line with public opinions

Recently, the standing committee of the Qingyuan city's  people's congress started the legislative work of the regulations on the property management of residential quarters, and public opinions and demands from concerned parties were widely heard.

At a hearing of the legislation on property management in residential quarters, representatives of residents asked a barrage of questions about several property management issues that owners are generally concerned about.

"I was very excited to participate in the legislative hearing for the first time," said Luo, a representative from the Ximentang community, Qingcheng district. He said this kind of legislation is very down-to-earth in which ordinary people could speak out for themselves and express their true thoughts.

The person in charge of the standing committee of the Qingyuan city's  people's congress said that in April 2016, the city's legislation law — The Rules on the Formulation of Local Regulations in Qingyuan — was introduced and implemented to promote scientific and democratic legislation. The drafting of laws and regulations, the legislative authority and procedures of the city people's congress and its standing committee as well as the submission and publication of local laws and regulations were clearly stipulated.

Since 2016, the standing committee of the Qingyuan city's  people's congress has been collecting legislative proposals from the society every year via television, newspapers, websites and public bulletin boards to find out the people's demands and bring legislative items closer to public opinions. Up to now, more than 500 legislative suggestions have been received from people of all walks of life.

Since November 2015, the standing committee of the Qingyuan city's  people's congress has organized a legislative advisory group of 15 members, which consists of people from relevant departments, legal workers, experts and scholars, to work as legislative consultants to reach out to the grassroots, understand social conditions, solicit public opinions from all parties and propose legislative ideas that are legal, reasonable and practical with Qingyuan characteristics.

The legislative process gathers the wisdom of the people

The Regulations on the Management of Urban Domestic Waste in Qingyuan City has been implemented since Sept 1. In the future, improper disposal of domestic waste may face high fines.

On Dec 3, Qingcheng district organized legislative liaison members and deputies to the local people's congress to carry out a publicity campaign on waste management regulations and collect opinions and suggestions from the public on legislative projects at the city's Fengcheng Law Park.

In recent years, the standing committee of the Qingyuan city's  people's congress has regarded the construction of grassroots opinion collection stations as an important way for strengthening legislative work and improving the quality of legislation.

In November 2017, Qingyuan's first grassroots legislative opinion collection station was unveiled at the Yinghong town people's congress. After more than three years of exploration,  Qingyuan has taken the lead in realizing the "full coverage on both fronts" of county-level legislative opinion collection stations and town-level legislative liaison officers in the province by the end of 2020.

Legislative achievements

Villagers in Shanxin village, Taiping station, Qingxin district, have reported to the village committee that some people in the village use public land for illegal constructions. However, this has not been dealt with because there are no relevant laws and regulations in place.

As the first local regulation in Guangdong to regulate the management of village planning and construction, the Regulations on the Management of Village Planning and Construction in Qingyuan City came into effect on Sept 1, 2020.

After that, the staff members of the town people's congress and the cadres of the village committee carried out publicity and education on the regulations among the owners of illegal constructions , which led to their concessions and demolishing of the illegal constructions.

After the implementation of the Qingyuan City Appearance and Environmental Sanitation Management Regulations, the grassroots legislative opinion collection station of Taiping town took the initiative to organize legislative liaison officers to cooperate with the town.

The appearance and environment of streets in the Taiping town have been significantly improved, and the environment is clean and comfortable. The traffic is in order, and the people's sense of happiness and gain has been continuously enhanced.

"We understood the content of this regulation after the publicity. According to the requirements of the regulation, we will improve the appearance and environmental sanitation of the block together. We support it wholeheartedly," said the merchants who run fruit shops in Taiping town, adding that they are willing to clean the nearby environment every day.

The standing committee of the Qingyuan city's  people's congress always upholds the Party's leadership, the people's position as masters of the country, and law-based governance and incorporates the whole-process people's democracy into every step of their legislative work.

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