Editorials
Role of people's congress
(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-26 07:50
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How a local people's congress will help residents enjoy the benefits of the regional government's policy in a timely manner is what most people are expecting to hear from their local legislative body's conference at this time every year.
Residents are concerned with immediate and specific problems of their daily lives. But it usually takes a good amount of time for the effects of even a good policy to be noticed by residents.
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Capital city Beijing's people's congress opened yesterday. A couple of days before the conference, many municipal government agencies answered online questions from deputies and local residents. The local media also interviewed residents on what they expect the most from the conference.
The interviewed local residents said they were concerned with such problems as increasingly higher prices for vegetables and other foods, traffic jams, the hike in housing prices, food safety and equal opportunities for education.
Residents from different walks of life have different problems. And it is unrealistic that all their problems will be solved in a timely manner. But their voices should be heard at the people's congress.
It is not just a matter of venting grievances by residents. The various difficulties residents run into in their daily lives are usually the symptoms of a dysfunctional system or problematic policy.
Beijing, for example, has provided more than 25,000 bicycles for residents to rent at very low prices. But very few use these bicycles mostly because they do not feel safe biking around when most lanes for cyclists have been demolished. Cyclists have to navigate the roads along with motor vehicles. If residents are encouraged to travel by bikes, separate lanes should be provided for them to bike safely.
Home prices in the capital are hiking at such a clip that there are few wage earners who can afford an apartment of three bedrooms or even two bedrooms. It's even unaffordable after home-seekers have paid the entire mortgage with all they have earned and saved without consuming anything else in their lifetime. Apparently, something must have gone wrong in the land acquisition process or in some other processes.
It is inspiring that local people's congresses are becoming increasingly open in recent years. And the Internet has been used extensively to interact with the general public by inviting their opinions on particular issues. There are many heated discussions and debates on certain policies that have direct bearing on residents' lives.
Of course, there is much to be desired when it comes to the role of local people's congresses in supervising the work of local governments on behalf of the residents.
But looking at the progress they have made, we are optimistic that they will play an increasingly better role in the future.
(China Daily 01/26/2010 page8)
