Why is China taking aim at grass-roots officials for ‘lying flat’?
- Sketch about an official’s reluctance to patch a hole featured in annual Spring Festival Gala
- Party mouthpieces have launched a barrage of harsh commentaries in recent weeks
The Communist Party is revving up its propaganda, disciplinary and personnel apparatus to get China’s myriad officials to shed their fatigue and grudges from three years of battling Covid-19 and embrace a drive for development.
Following heated discussion about officials’ “lying flat” mentality, top party mouthpieces have published harsh commentaries since late last month criticising such attitudes among grass-roots officials. At the same time, dozens of regional party committees and local governments, mostly in major economic centres, have called on party members and officials to reinvigorate their “can-do” spirit.
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“[We must] ensure that officials and enterprises dare to make decisions on their own, while local authorities and residents dare to blaze new trails,” a statement released after the meeting said.
The commission vowed to tackle such officials “resolutely” and said the party should promote those who dared to tackle problems and correct the misconception that a “hands off and make no mistakes” attitude was better.