The people and their choice

CHEN YIMIN
The citizens’ participation in budget programme was initiated in Wenling, Zhejiang province, in July 2005 to encourage more people to take part in politics. For nearly five years since then the people have panned the local government’s budget, stimulating the functions of the local people’s congress. Surely, precious experience has been gained from the programme, making the Wenling formula a model for citizens’ participation in politics.
People’s participation can be realised in three stages of budget planning: preparation of a draft by a government, its review by the local people’s congress and the final assessment.
During the first couple of years of reform and opening up, the Wenling authorities solicited people’s opinions on the draft through discussion sessions to encourage them to participate in politics. Government departments put up posters welcoming people to join the discussion forums and express their opinions on the draft. The authorities invited representatives from different social sectors, too, to ensure that people of every interested group get an opportunity to express their opinions.
This year, some innovations are being made. Forums will be held before the government prepares the draft, and people’s opinions will be recorded and summarised by officials, who would take them into consideration while preparing the text. Though the results of this new measure are still to be seen, we are confident that it will be a step forward.
People’s participation in politics enters its second stage - that is, examination by the local people’s congress - after the budget draft is prepared. The authorities have now devised a system to enable ordinary citizens to voice their opinions at the local people’s congress, too.