Inspirations from the Socialist Democratic System with Chinese Characteristics
中国特色社会主义民主制度的启示
Radio Dalsan Published an Article by Chargé d'Affaires Feng Qinghu
驻索马里使馆临时代办冯青虎在索主流媒体达山广播发表署名文章
22 June 2021
2021年6月22日
Article 22 of the Provisional Constitution of the Federal Republic of Somalia sets down Somali citizens’ right of political participation, including the right to form political parties and to participate in their activities. This is in sharp contrast to the system of multiparty cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC applied in China.
《索马里临时宪法》第22条规定了公民的政治参与权，包括成立政党并参与其活动的权利，体现了索马里多党制民主政治的特点，与在中国实施的中国共产党领导的多党合作和政治协商制度形成鲜明对比。
Democracy has its essence. Marx and Engels said, “What is democracy? It must have a meaning, or it would not exist. It is all a matter, then, of finding the true meaning of democracy.” China is a socialist country of people’s democratic dictatorship under the leadership of the working class based on an alliance of workers and farmers. It is a country where all power of the state belongs to the people. The essence of socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics lies in people’s democracy, and its fundamental approach and epitomization is the system of the People’s Congress. The concept of people’s democracy is concretely and vividly embodied in all links of the whole process of the people being the masters of the country. The people implement democratic elections, democratic consultations, democratic decision-making, democratic management, and democratic supervision in accordance with the law. These five links have expanded the orderly political participation of the people and reflects typically the specific form of democracy in the whole process. There are more or less similarities between the system of the People’s Congress and that of the House of the People implemented in Somalia currently.
民主有其本质。马克思、恩格斯说过：“民主是什么呢？它必须具有一定的意义，否则它就不能存在。因此全部问题就在于确定民主的真正意义。”中国是工人阶级领导的、以工农联盟为基础的人民民主专政的社会主义国家，国家一切权力属于人民。中国特色社会主义民主的实质是人民民主，其根本途径和最高实现形式就是人民代表大会制度。人民民主具体地、生动地体现在人民当家作主的全过程各环节，人民依法实行民主选举、民主协商、民主决策、民主管理、民主监督，这五个环节扩大了人民有序政治参与，集中反映了全过程民主的具体形式。人民代表大会制度和索马里人民院制度多少有相似的地方。
Democracy is not Coca-Cola, which tastes the same across the world. The forms of realizing democratic politics are rich and varied, and shall not be constrained to any single model. For example, clans play an important role in Somalia’s democratic politics. From the perspective of the party system, socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics is fully embodied in the system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC, which is a basic political system entrenched by the Chinese Constitution. It is a great achievement of the CPC in combining the Marxist-Lennist theories of the united front, political parties, and democratic politics with the conditions in China. It is an innovative political system involving political parties, prominent individuals without any party affiliation, people’s organizations, and people from all walks of life and all ethnic groups under the leadership of the CPC. It has played a significant role in founding the PRC and in each historical period of socialist revolution, development and reform.
民主不是可口可乐，全世界一个味道。实现民主政治的形式是丰富多彩的，不能拘泥于刻板的模式。比如，部族就在索马里民主政治中发挥着重要作用。从政党制度看，中国特色社会主义民主集中体现为中国共产党领导的多党合作和政治协商制度，这是中国宪法确立的一项基本政治制度。这是中国共产党把马克思列宁主义统一战线理论、政党理论、民主政治理论同中国实际相结合的伟大成果，是中国共产党领导各民主党派、无党派人士、人民团体和各族各界人士在政治制度上进行的伟大创造；在建立新中国和社会主义革命、建设、改革各个历史时期发挥了十分重要的作用。
People of all countries have the right to choose their own development path. “Only by wearing them, should you know whether a pair of shoes fits you or not.” By the same token only the people of a country is entitled to the final say on its own development path. This also explains the important reason why Chinese government firmly supports a Somali democratic process that is truly Somali-owned and Somali-led. We are always open to useful governance experience from other countries, digesting its essence and employing it for our own use on the basis of our own systems. China’s socialist democracy is a whole-process, most representative democracy. It embodies the will of the people, fits the country’s realities, and is endorsed by the people. It has been fully demonstrated in effectively tackling the Covid-19 epidemic and winning the fight against poverty as scheduled. It is undemocratic in itself to label China as “authoritarian” or “dictatorship” simply because China’s democracy takes a different form than that of other countries.
各国人民有权自主选择发展道路。“鞋子合不合脚，自己穿了才知道”。一个国家的发展道路合不合适，只有这个国家的人民才最有发言权。这也是中国政府坚定支持索马里民主进程“索人所有，索人主导”原则的重要原因。我们从来不排斥任何有利于中国发展进步的他国国家治理经验，而是坚持以我为主、为我所用，去其糟粕、取其精华。中国特色社会民主制度是一种全过程、最广泛的民主，体现人民意志，符合中国国情，得到人民拥护，在有效应对新冠肺炎疫情、如期打赢脱贫攻坚战等方面得到充分彰显。不能因为和其他国家的民主模式不一样，就给中国扣上“威权”、“专制”的帽子，这本身就是不民主的表现。
The socialist democratic system with Chinese characteristics is a historical choice. Since the advent of modern times, countless progressives struggled in search of ways to create a better future for China. They pioneered new state and governance systems, and experimented with various solutions such as constitutional monarchy, parliamentary systems, multiparty politics, and presidential government. But all these efforts ended in failure. We shall stay committed to a people-centered approach, ensure the principal status of the people, improve our democratic institutions, diversify our forms of democracy, and establish more democratic channels. We must see to it that the principle of the people as masters of the country is put into practices in China’s political and social activities. Similarly, we are also confident that Somalia will eventually achieve universal suffrage and establish a democratic system that suits its own national conditions.
中国特色社会主义民主制度是历史的选择。近代以来，无数仁人志士为改变中国前途命运，开始探寻新的国家制度和国家治理体系，尝试了君主立宪制、议会制、多党制、总统制等各种制度模式，但都以失败而告终。我们要继续坚持以人民为中心，坚持人民主体地位，不断健全民主制度，丰富民主形式，拓宽民主渠道，保证人民当家作主落实到国家政治生活和社会生活之中。同样，我们也对索马里最终实现普选、建立符合自己国情的民主制度充满信心。