Role of constitution in spotlight again as party's fourth plenum nears

Which reigns supreme - the Communist Party or China's constitution? The political elite have struggled for more than two decades to find an answer. Liberals argue that a powerful charter limiting the actions of the government would bolster the party's credibility. Conservatives dismiss the idea as a Western import unsuitable for a socialist nation. The question will be asked again next month when the party's Central Committee meets for its fourth plenum. Rule of law is expected to dominate the discussions, along with economic development. Hopes that China would move towards constitutionalism have been stoked by President Xi Jinping. In a speech in December 2012, not long after he became head of the party, Xi repeated Article 5 of the charter, saying: "No organisation or individual has the privilege to overstep the constitution and law." Xi echoed the idea in an address this month. Similar pledges have been made in the past by top leaders. When Hu Jintao took over in 2002, he declared that "no organisation or individual can be permitted the special privilege of going outside the constitution and law". But for every indication that the leadership is behind the push, state media and party magazines have run articles and commentaries attacking the idea. At its heart, constitutionalism is about the source of the government's authority. According to the first three articles of China's charter, the nation belongs to the people, who exercise their power through the national and local congresses. Their members are appointed through democratic elections, and are "responsible to the people and subject to their supervision". Citizens also have the right to vote and run for election (Article 34), while Article 35 enshrines freedom of speech, the press, assembly, association and demonstration. But the constitution does not limit the powers of the party; aside from the preamble and amendments, the party is not mentioned at all. The present constitution was enacted in 1982 and has undergone four amendments to reflect the party's views on major economic and social progress. The 1988 amendment affirmed the legal status of the private sector, stating that it complemented the socialist economy. The 1993 amendment declared China would pursue a market economy instead of a planned economy. The 1999 amendment declared China would practise the rule of law, and the 2004 amendment adopted former president Jiang Zemin's dictum of the "Three Represents". Edward Friedman, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin, said the party threw out the constitution when it no longer served the interests of authoritarian ruling groups. Leaders have repeated the process time and again. "In so doing, the People's Republic remains a single-party dictatorship in which the party commands a monopoly of arbitrary power, placing the party above and unconstrained by the constitution of the moment, a formula [that] forevermore abuses the rights and dignities of the Chinese people," Friedman said. In 2008, a group of intellectuals and activists, headed by Liu Xiaobo , who won the Nobel Peace Prize two years later, presented "Charter 08". Included among its nearly 20 key demands was a call for a new constitution. "We should recast our present constitution, rescinding its provisions that contradict the principle that sovereignty resides with the people," it said. "The constitution must be the highest law in the land, beyond violation by any individual, group, or political party." The leadership responded by jailing some of the signatories, including Liu. Last year, Zhang Xuezhong, a constitutional expert at the East China University of Political Science and Law, was suspended from teaching after he called on the government to honour the 1982 constitution. Mo Jihong , a constitutional-affairs expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Xi's recent statement "lifted the status of the constitution". He expects substantial changes in decision-making at the upcoming plenum. But Zhang squarely dismissed any possibility of meaningful reform. An internal document issued by the party's Publicity Department last summer, referred to as Document No9, called for the eradication from Chinese society of "seven subversive currents", including "Western constitutionalism". By this summer, at least 200 state-controlled publications had run articles criticising the call for a genuine constitutional system, according to the University of Hong Kong's China Media Project. Many party and state-run media denounced the constitutionalism argument as a Western plot to overthrow communist rule in the country. Zhang said that in his speeches, Xi was merely paying lip service to the liberal wing within the establishment and the upcoming party gathering was unlikely to yield any substantial push towards constitutionalism. Additional reporting by Laura Zhou

Role of constitution in spotlight again as party's fourth plenum nears

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The role of the constitution in legitimising and limiting the party's power has long been debated

The role of the constitution in legitimising and limiting the party's power has long been debated