Top Chinese legislator Wu Bangguo elaborated on the essential differences between the system of China's people's congresses and Western capitalist countries' system of political power at the Second Session of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC) Monday.
The essential differences are listed as following:
Between people's congresses and western parliaments:
-- China's system of political parties is a system of multiparty cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), not a Western-style multiparty system.
-- The CPC is at the core of the country's leadership and the ruling party, while the non-communist parties are participating parties.
-- Deputies to county- and township-level people's congresses are directly elected by voters, while deputies to people's congresses above the county-level are elected by deputies to people's congresses at the next lower level.
-- The people's congresses have no congressional party groups, and they do not carry out activities on the basis of sectors of society.
-- No seats are assigned on the basis of parties within the people's congresses.
-- All congress deputies and senior members serve the people under the leadership of the CPC in accordance with the law, sharing the same fundamental interests.
No separation of three powers
-- The people's congresses exercise state power in a unified way, and the governments, courts and procuratorates are all created by them and are responsible to them and subject to their oversight.
-- The system of people's congresses is not a Western system with the separation of the three powers.
-- The people's congresses formulate laws and passing resolutions in accordance with the stands of the Party and the will of the people.
-- They oversee and support the governments, courts and procuratorates in exercising their functions.
Between?NPC deputies and western MPs
-- Deputies come from every region, ethnic group and sector of society of the country, and there is at least one deputy from each ethnic minority group no matter how small its population is.
-- Deputies are therefore broadly representative and they do not represent a single party or group as members of Western parliaments and congresses do.
-- Deputies live among the people and maintain close ties with them. They all hold posts in their respective fields of endeavor.
-- Deputies exercise their lawful duties and powers collectively at meetings, rather than each deputy addressing problems directly and separately from other deputies.
-- Functional organs of the standing committees of the people's congresses at all levels collectively advise, assist and serve the deputies.
(Xinhua News Agency March 10, 2009)