On March 5, the draft amendment to the Deputies Law of the National People's Congress and local people's congresses at all levels was submitted to the third session of the 14th National People's Congress for deliberation. This is the fourth amendment to the current Representative Law since its promulgation and implementation in 1992. At present, there are over 2.77 million fifth level deputies to the National People's Congress in China. The Representative Law is the fundamental law that regulates and guarantees the exercise of representative powers, fulfillment of representative obligations, and the role of representatives by National People's Congress deputies in accordance with the law. What are the noteworthy aspects of the revision of the Representative Law this time? Highlight 1: Strengthening the political requirements of "people's representatives". As members of the state power organs, people's congress representatives have a heavy responsibility. The draft amendment to the Representative Law includes for the first time in the General Provisions section the phrase "practicing people's democracy throughout the entire process", clarifying that people's congress deputies at all levels adhere to the leadership of the Party and the guiding ideology of the Party and the state, take it as their responsibility to uphold, improve, and operate the system of people's congresses, and achieve political firmness, serve the people, respect the rule of law, promote democracy, and be diligent and responsible. These regulations institutionalize the political requirements for representatives to perform their duties, ensuring that representatives always maintain a firm political stance and stand firm with the people Tong Weidong, director of the National Law Office of the Law Working Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, said. The "four organs" are the new positioning and requirements for the work and construction of the National People's Congress in the new era. In the draft amendment to the Representation Law, new deputies to people's congresses at all levels "perform their duties for the purpose of building political organs under the leadership of the CPC, organs of state power that ensure that the people are the masters of their own affairs, working organs that fully shoulder the responsibilities entrusted by the Constitution and laws, and representative organs that always maintain close contact with the people", highlighting the distinctive political nature of the work of deputies to people's congresses in the new era. At the same time, the draft amendment to the Representative Law also puts forward clear requirements for NPC deputies to strengthen their theoretical and professional knowledge learning. "In recent years, delegate training has shifted from 'full coverage' to 'precision', which has improved the ability of grassroots front-line representatives to perform their duties, and helped us put forward more high-quality and targeted proposals and suggestions." Chen Xiaomei, a deputy to the National People's Congress and secretary of the General Party Branch of Yonghe Village, Bowang Town, Bowang District, Ma'anshan City, Anhui Province, said. Highlight 2: Being a bridge and link between state organs and the people. National People's Congress deputies are the bridge between the Party and the state and the people. The draft amendment to the Representative Law further expands and deepens the mechanism of the "two connections" system, that is, to strengthen the connection between state organs and National People's Congress deputies, and to strengthen the connection between National People's Congress deputies and the people. Bring People's Congress deputies closer to the people - The revised draft of the Representative Law improves the relevant provisions on the activities of deputies during the recess of the local People's Congress, stipulating that the standing committees of local People's Congress at or above the county level or the presidium of township People's Congress shall regularly organize deputies to carry out activities to contact the people, listen to and reflect the opinions and suggestions of the people, in accordance with the principle of local proximity. The work of National People's Congress deputies during the congress and their activities during the recess are both in the performance of their duties as deputies. Fu Wenjie, Deputy Director of the Working Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, said: "The measures taken by deputies to the people's congresses at or above the level of cities divided into districts to inspect and carry out special research across the original electoral units in their administrative regions are conducive to promoting deputies to the people's congresses to widely listen to the opinions and suggestions of the masses through various channels and forms, target the pulse of the masses, and absorb the wisdom of the masses." Let the interaction between state organs and deputies to the people's congresses become more "intensive" - the draft amendment to the Representation Law further improves the system of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress to contact representatives, and the system of "one government, one committee. At present, at the level of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, members of the Standing Committee have directly contacted 416 deputies to the National People's Congress, and maintained regular contact with them through various activities such as holding discussions with deputies, inviting them to attend meetings as nonvoting delegates, participating in law enforcement inspections and research. Lou Qinjian, spokesman of the Third Session of the 14th National People's Congress, said: "Through this form, the voice of the grassroots and the voice of the masses can be directly reflected in the Standing Committee, and reflected in the work of the NPC's legislation and supervision." "Strengthening the close contact between the 'one government, one committee, two chambers' and the NPC deputies is an important manifestation of accepting the supervision of the NPC and the people, which is conducive to promoting better administration, supervision and justice according to law of state organs, and promoting the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity." Tong Weidong said. Highlight 3: Turning "good words" into "good strategies". The proposal of deputies to the National People's Congress is fundamentally the exercise of democratic power to represent the people and be the masters of the country. How to transform high-quality representative suggestions into policy measures that promote development, benefit people's livelihoods, and warm the hearts of the people? The draft amendment to the Representative Law clearly states that the suggestions, criticisms, and opinions put forward by representatives on various aspects of work shall be submitted to relevant organs and organizations for research and handling by the working body of the standing committee of the people's congress at the corresponding level, the working body, or the township people's congress presidium. Yu Yang, the Director of the Bureau of Handling the Proposal and Proposal of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on behalf of the Working Committee, introduced that since 2005, the delegates proposed to transfer the proposal to a meeting instead of receiving the proposal documents separately. This amendment will fix a more mature and stable working system. Door visits, discussions and research, on-site responses... The forms are different, but the goal is the same - to take seriously every suggestion that embodies the people's expectations. The revised draft of the Representative Law also adds a provision on strengthening communication and timely reporting of the situation during the handling process, with the aim of achieving practical results, "said Yu Yang. Handling key supervision suggestions is an important measure to enhance the effectiveness of handling representative suggestions. The draft amendment to the Representative Law clarifies the mechanism for supervising representative suggestions. In 2024, the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress, centering on the major decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee, combined with the key work of the Standing Committee and the major issues reflected by the representatives and the people's general concern, identified 20 items and 225 key supervision suggestions, and promoted the solution of a number of practical problems. The key supervision suggestions are institutional arrangements to promote the implementation of representative suggestions, and are an important lever to play the role of representative suggestions in serving the overall situation. This amendment provides a legal basis for the key supervision and suggestion work of people's congresses at all levels, which will further promote the improvement of the quality and efficiency of the handling of representative suggestions, and fully play the role of representatives Yuyang said. Highlight 4: Safeguarding the lawful performance of duties by National People's Congress deputies. Currently, among the more than 2.77 million fifth level National People's Congress deputies in China, nearly 95% are county and township People's Congress deputies, many of whom are frontline workers, farmers, and professional and technical personnel. They not only serve as deputies to the National People's Congress, but also engage in their own professional duties. Representatives shall perform their duties in accordance with the law, and the state shall provide round-trip travel expenses and necessary material convenience or subsidies as needed. Modern information technology can be used to establish and improve a network platform for representatives to perform their duties. Standing committees of people's congresses at or above the county level shall formulate annual work plans for representatives. The revised draft of the Representative Law has added many new provisions to facilitate and ensure the performance of representatives' duties. Fu Wenjie said that, taking the application of modern information technology as an example, the National People's Congress has built an information platform for the work of deputies, insisted on planning and designing the structure and functions of the platform with the purpose of serving and facilitating delegates, and centered on delegates, so as to realize the centralization of various service functions and information to the delegates, and facilitate delegates to draft and submit proposals. Change 'can' to 'should' to issue a representative certificate for the local People's Congress representative system; A special provision has been added for representatives with physical disabilities, stating that 'necessary assistance and care should be provided as needed'... There are also many heartwarming details in the revised draft of the Representative Law. The amendment and improvement of the Representative Law in accordance with the times will undoubtedly ensure and promote the high-quality development of the work of National People's Congress deputies. As Lou Qinjian stated, we will take this amendment to the Representative Law as an opportunity to better leverage the role of over 2.77 million people's congress deputies at all levels and the advantages of the country's fundamental political system. (New Society)