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It makes sense to defer the law

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-12 07:50

It is prudent to postpone the review of the Social Security Law draft because the public has not reached a consensus on it, says an article on Yanzhao Metropolis Daily. Excerpt:

The third hearing on the Social Security Law draft, scheduled for this month, will reportedly be deferred to next year because the public differs over the system designed for endowment insurance.

In recent years, local governments have advanced several social security projects. But social security projects with different standards cannot be put into practice across the country.

Hence, it is necessary to enact a nationwide basic law on social security, for which the country's top legislature has released a draft of the Social Security Law to solicit public opinion.

Legislation should never be divorced from social conditions. It should strike a balance among all sections of society and embody social justice and equality. That is the premise of a good piece of legislation.

Judging from the public response to the draft, neither the system design nor its content is appealing. The draft grants too much power to the government, and differentiates among employees of enterprises, institutions and government organizations who participate in social insurance.

The aims of legislation cannot be realized if it has serious defects. Furthermore, any deficiency in a system will harm social fairness and justice, and eventually the interests of the country and its people. From this point of view, it would be wise to postpone the review of the Social Insurance Law.

(China Daily 08/12/2009 page9)