Hiccups on the right track to transparency

Li Detao created media frenzy recently by calling for the Guangzhou government to post its budget online. The public budget observation volunteer says governments have had enough time to clear all the technical hurdles to issue their annual budgets. "Governments do not face any more technical hurdles to make their budgets and final accounts public the main obstacles (if there still are any) exist within governments," not the law.

Li said he and several of his fellow volunteers asked many government departments, including that of central ministries, to make their budgets public. The Code of Practice on Access to Government Information took effect a year and a half ago. "So we just exercised our rights by applying to the governments, and we will keep doing so," Li said.

"People today are more aware of their rights and one of them is their right, as taxpayers, to see and study government budgets. And letting the public scrutinize budgets will only help society to progress in the right direction."

Last year, we made history as our application the first ever for announcing the budget was accepted by the Shenzhen government. Since then, increased public demand and media reports have played a key role in making the Guangzhou government announce a relatively detailed budget. Now, I am certain this trend will continue," he said.

The budget issued by the Guangzhou financial bureau with basic categories such as general income and expenditure is "mechanically clear and, so far, the most specified version we have received from a government department".

But that's far from being perfect for Li or his teammates. They say there's a lot of room for improvement. For example, budgets should have more details such as description of departments' functions. "Not a single word in the budgets made public gives details of departments' functions, so we don't know what and how they will spend the money earmarked in the budget submitted to the people's congress for approval," Li said.

If a government doesn't give the breakdown of a given fund, it will be almost impossible for people to find out what exactly and how it would be (or has been) spent. Corrupt officials can still use a budget that gives only general outlines for back-door dealings.

Moreover, it is very difficult to analyze or read a budget if data of the previous few years is not made available. So we hope that next year's governments furnish the previous one or two years' figures, too, as is the practice worldwide, he said.

The issuing of the budget by Guangzhou may be a breakthrough, but that does not mean other governments will do the same, Li said.

In fact, the Shanghai government rejected the request to make its budget public, saying it was a "State secret".

Though many other local governments have done the same, the excuse is nothing but flimsy. China's laws do not stipulate that a government budget is a "State secret". This only highlights some officials' arrogance toward the public. Given the increasing waste of public funds by corrupt officials, the use of "State secret" not to make their budgets public can be seen as an attempt to hide facts. "So the fundamental aim should be the improvement and strengthening of legislation," Li said.

The issuing of budgets should become common practice, because the public found many loopholes in the Guangzhou government's budget after it was posted online. This has made the Guangzhou government take necessary steps to plug them and run the administration more smoothly.

To some extent, the Guangzhou government's move, along with the drafting of the amendment to the Budget Law, will help put the transparency process on the right trajectory, he said.

(China Daily 02/08/2010 page9)