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Minnie Chan

Premier seeks opinions before his work report

Premier Wen Jiabao has made an unprecedented move to consult grass-roots members of society before he delivers his work report at  next month's annual meeting of the National People's Congress.

Mr Wen met 12 representatives of construction workers, village doctors, taxi drivers, policemen, farmers,  former laid-off workers, agricultural equipment salesmen and other businesses in his office in Zhongnanhai on Tuesday, Xinhua reported yesterday.

However, analysts cast doubt on the credibility of the representatives  as no details were revealed on how they were selected.

The report said the representatives came from Beijing, Tianjin, Liaoning, Hebei, Henan, Shandong , Heilongjiang, Zhejiang and other places.

'I  have said that the gate of Zhongnanhai is open to the masses. This means the authority of the government is endowed by the people,' Xinhua quoted Mr Wen as saying. 'It is [a government] of the people, for the people and by the people. This is our objective.'

Mr Wen said that in recent years he had  sought different opinions from all  walks of life before delivering his work report at the opening of the annual  congress meeting.

'But this is the first time I have convened such a specific meeting for grass-roots people to hear their comments about the government,' Mr Wen said, stressing that 'it is very important to let the masses speak their opinions directly'.

During the more than three-hour meeting, Mr Wen noted  representatives' comments and suggestions,  which centred chiefly on social security and education policies, it was reported.

'I feel that the salaries of our migrant workers are still too low, and there's also no retirement payments or insurance,'  Fan Shusheng , a migrant worker from Henan,  said. 'Our children have problems getting an education.'

Xiao Yan , a former laid-off worker from Liaoning, also asked the government to provide re-employment training courses or micro-finance.

Mr Wen said  the State Council was concerned about all the problems mentioned by the  representatives. 'A good work report should be concerned with the masses. Then it will be a real report that is acceptable, understandable and practicable by our people.'

Hu Xingdou ,  a political analyst from the Beijing Institute of Technology,  said the meeting  highlighted the failure of the  NPC system. 'It is because the system is too bureaucratic, with more than 70 per cent [of  delegates] being government officials.'

Professor Hu  said that almost all officials had  lost touch with the masses over the past two decades. 'What the government needs to do is  ... force officials to narrow their distance with the public, and realise that their main task is serving the people, not just reaping benefits from their jobs.'



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