Article calls on retired officials to shun politics
A commentary in a flagship newspaper under the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Monday criticized some retired officials for continuing to wield influence over government decisions.
"It should become a norm for officials to relinquish their power after retirement," read an opinion piece in the People's Daily on Monday.
Some officials keep intervening in critical issues after retirement and help their relatives and friends benefit from their continuing influence, according to the commentary.
Hu Xingdou, a political science professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology, told the Global Times that some officials assigned their trusted subordinates to certain posts before retirement in order to gain favors afterwards.
Zhou Yongkang, China's former security chief, was convicted in June of instructing former deputy Party chief of Sichuan Province Li Chuncheng to "provide assistance" to his sons, brother and close friends in their business activities, helping them to illegally profit to the order of more than 2.1 billion yuan ($332 million).
Zhou served as the Party chief of Sichuan Province between 1999 and 2002 while Li was deputy Party chief of Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province.
Cai Zhiqiang, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, pointed out that there are historical reasons why senior officials continue to exert influence over incumbent officials — the life tenure system before 1980 and an "advisory committee" composed of retired officials to "guide" incumbent officials during a transitional period after 1980.
The life tenure system for officials was put to an end in early 1980s after the change was strongly supported by late Chinese leaders Deng Xiaoping and Chen Yun, according to a commentary published late Monday by Xiakedao, a public WeChat account operated by the People's Daily. Deng deemed the life tenure system to be a continuation of feudalism.
The CPC in July issued a regulation on the promotion and demotion of officials, aiming to fix an old problem in China's political system that allows officials to be promoted or stay at the same level, but does not permit their demotion unless they violate Party rules or the law.
The regulation lists six cases in which officials will be demoted, including reaching retirement age and disciplinary offenses.
