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UPDATED: April 5, 2009 NO. 14 APR. 9, 2009
Is It Acceptable to Secretly Check and Report Officials?
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Yan Gaoge (hlj.rednet.cn): Sihong County's practice means to secretly observe officials so that they will behave themselves. Maybe the officials don't like to be watched, but the public hopes that these officials will not succumb to corruption, even in their off-duty hours.

Even in ancient times, emperors sometimes came out of the palace secretly and walked among ordinary people. Why can't disciplinary authorities employ undercover inspectors and let them secretly supervise officials? Employing ordinary people for this purpose is convenient and effective, as they are more familiar with local social circumstances.

Just Ineffective

Bi Xiaozhe (www.tianshannet.com): Under the "undercover inspector" system, Sihong has made many achievements. But this kind of monitoring is informal, different from that by disciplinary authorities themselves. This partly reflects the lack of channels for the public to monitor government officials. If the public had full access to the activities of officials, undercover inspectors would be totally unnecessary.

Like ordinary citizens, officials also have their basic rights. The question is, do disciplinary authorities have the time and energy to probe into every detail of officials' lives? As for officials, their off-duty activities might be reported to disciplinary authorities without their knowledge. Isn't it a violation of their right to privacy?

In normal conditions, officials should have respect for the legal system and be disciplined, not feeling afraid of certain individuals and groups. If they restrict their behaviors only because of so-called "undercover inspectors," it's not the rule of law. As for the inspectors, they may have personal preferences and thus focus on officials they don't like while ignoring those they favor. When it comes to disciplinary authorities, the lack of a transparent official assessment system might lead to new corruption.

Secret observation is an innovation, but it's not open enough and risks violating people's privacy, so it's unwise to popularize this practice.

Wang Lin (Shanghai Morning Post): Citizens have the constitutional right to monitor all aspects of officials' life.

According to the Party's Commission for Discipline Inspection of Sihong County, the permitted scope of monitoring of those undercover inspectors is quite limited. Only a few officials are subject to their supervision, and they can only report on things such as bribery, unauthorized use of government vehicles and gambling. Thus, it's quite doubtful how much this kind of limited monitoring can help. As for officials' tawdry behavior, these undercover inspectors do not have the right to comment. Besides, the monitoring is only conducted when officials are off work.

However, according to the Constitution, citizens have the right to monitor any wrongdoings by officials, with no limitation of time. As for reporting on illegal acts and wrongdoings and keeping track of the disposal of officials' law-breaking cases, this is all covered by the Constitution, but yet was not made known by Sihong County.

The county's practice of employing undercover anti-corruption inspectors is not expanding the public's right to monitor officials, but is actually restricting their rights.

Wang Qing (www.cnhubei.com): Although the undercover inspectors are told not to threaten, frighten or blackmail officials, the secret nature of the system makes it quite possible for these things to happen. If these inspectors were given unrestricted rights, corruption would follow. Besides, the more corrupt officials they discover, the more bonuses and subsidies the inspectors can get. How many of them will resist the temptation of material benefits?

As for the effectiveness of their work, even the undercover inspectors themselves are not satisfied. The things they are allowed to monitor are all visible corruption, such as luxurious dinners, unauthorized use of government vehicles, etc. There is no need for secret observation. When it comes to corruption involving big money, the inspectors, mostly ordinary people, are actually ineffective.

Li Xiaoliang (Chongqing Times): If it is the public's constitutional right to know what officials are up to, why must this be done in a secret way? Though the inspectors are only allowed to monitor corruption activities like government vehicle abuse and luxurious dinners at the government's expense, these inspectors are all afraid of revenge. This fact shows widespread disrespect toward the right in society.

The public has the right to monitor officials, but there are many more effective ways to achieve this goal, such as the property declaration system for officials. If this system can be put into practice as soon as possible, such embarrassing things as undercover inspectors can be avoided. Besides, if there must be inspectors, deputies to local people's congresses, or law-making bodies, are more eligible. Secretly monitoring officials is a short-term solution, whereas more authoritative parliamentary monitoring can work better in the long term.

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