We firmly believe that the Communist Party of China has initially formed the idea of establishing a people's congress system in the late 40s of the 20th century, and this can be seen from the common program and relevant regulations of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
The process of deciding to establish the system of people's congresses was fraught with various episodes. Why did the Chinese Communist Party choose to establish this system? Why was it not officially established until 1954?
There are many points of view on this issue. The mainstream view is that this is determined by China's national conditions and the nature of the new democratic regime, as well as Stalin's important influence.
However, the literature shows that this has been discussed in very specific terms. At the meeting of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China in September 1948, he listed in detail the reasons for convening the people's congress and stressed the rationality of adopting democratic centralism.
In addition, in March 1949, in the "Summary at the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China", these views were again emphasized.
** In this summary, it was stated: "We do not adopt the parliamentary system of the bourgeois republic, but the Soviet system of the proletarian republic. The Council of Deputies was the Soviets.
Of course, unlike the Soviet of the proletariat in the Soviet Union, we are the people's soviets based on the union of workers and peasants, the 'Soviets'We do not use this word, but call it the People's Congress.
The Soviet was created by the people, Lenin developed it. In China, because the parliamentary system of the bourgeois republic has lost trust among the people, we choose the political system of the socialist state. ”
As can be seen from the above speech of ***, the decision to adopt the form of a people's congress at that time actually took into account a number of factors. First, the basic principles of the Soviet model, especially democratic centralism, were adhered to, but a name with Chinese characteristics was needed.
Secondly, the Kuomintang party and the foreign bourgeoisie had no reason to oppose it, and he actually equated the people's congress with the National Convention, which at that time was convened in Germany and North Korea, which mainly played a constitutional function.
Again, parliamentarism has a bad reputation in China, so the name needs to be avoided. Therefore, from the point of view of the principle of the operation of political power, the people's congress system to be established at this time actually still retains the model of democratic centralism under the Soviet model and has the characteristics of a strong unity of discussion and action.
Thus, the emphasis here on democratic centralism is primarily in contrast to parliamentarism, while the emphasis on the name of the People's Congress is distinct from that of the Soviets, and at the same time a continuation of Sun Yat-sen's tradition of wanting to convene a National Assembly.
On the question of the idea of the transition to socialism, he was commissioned to write a letter to Stalin, suggesting that the Second Plenary Session of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) be held in the spring and summer of 1953 and that the National People's Congress be postponed to three years later.
Stalin suggested that the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference be convened instead of the National People's Congress. This is because although the CPPCC is not elected by the people, it has a very high reputation and status to the outside world.
And the convening of the National People's Congress may be attacked by the outside world because it is not prepared, saying that it is a self-proclaimed regime built on bayonets. At the same time, the common program is not adopted by the congress elected by the people, but something proposed by ** and agreed by the other parties.
Stalin proposed three times that China convene the National People's Congress as soon as possible and formulate a constitution, thus making a major contribution to China's construction and development. In November 1952, the Communist Party of China decided to convene the National People's Congress as soon as possible, and put forward a proposal to the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) to convene the National People's Congress on a regular basis.
In order to prepare for the convening of the National People's Congress, in December 1952, the Communist Party of China issued the "Notice on Convening the National Congress of the Party" and began to draft the election law and the draft constitution.
In January 1953, the 20th meeting of the People's Committee was held, at which it positively evaluated and approved the proposal of the Communist Party of China, and decided to convene the National People's Congress and local people's congresses at all levels in 1953.
At the beginning of the new five-year plan, we have decided to convene the National People's Congress and local people's congresses at all levels. The Prime Minister of the Government Council explained in detail the necessity and feasibility of this decision, which was unanimously agreed by all democratic parties, people's organizations, and personages without party affiliation.
** The President also stressed the importance of convening the National People's Congress, especially in promoting democracy, strengthening economic construction and the struggle against imperialism.
We firmly believe that as long as we train our cadres well and make good arrangements for our work, we will be able to overcome difficulties and do a good job in the election work. In 1953, we will also draw up a constitution, approve the outline of the country's five-year construction plan and elect a new **people**.
In the end, the People's Committee adopted the Resolution on Convening the National People's Congress and Local People's Congresses at All Levels.
1.According to the resolution, in 1953, the people's congresses at the township, county, and provincial (municipal) levels were elected, and on this basis, the National People's Congress was convened, the constitution was formulated, the outline of the national five-year construction plan was approved, and a new ** people ** were elected.
In order to draft the Constitution, the Constitution Drafting Committee of the People's Republic of China was established with *** as its chairman. 2.The first people's congress was convened in 1954 because after the People's Committee adopted the "Election Law of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China and Local People's Congresses at All Levels", it decided to postpone the convening of the National People's Congress and local people's congresses at all levels, taking into account the progress of the election work.
The main explanations are as follows: First, the general line of the transitional period is still in the process of being brewed and discussed; Second, I concentrated on dealing with major issues in the transition period; third, natural disasters in some parts of the country; Fourth, the Gao Rao incident occurred within the party.
3.There are four main explanations as to why the convening of the National People's Congress should be postponed. One of these is that the general line of the transitional period is still in the process of being conceived and discussed, and theoretically it will take a process to finally establish the guiding ideology.
As *** said in the "Draft Constitution of the People's Republic of China": "Our constitution is a constitution of the socialist type, but socialism has not yet been fully realized, it is a transitional constitution." ”
Therefore, although the 1954 Constitution established the system of people's congresses, since the 1954 Constitution itself is a transitional constitution, there are also many transitional elements in the people's congress system.