Delivered: October 23, 1977
Source: Peking Review Vol 20, No. 45 November 4, 1977
Online Version: Hua Guofeng Internet Archive, February 2004
Transcribed/HTML Markup: Mike B. for MIA, August 2005
Public Domain: Marxists Internet Archive (2005). You may freely copy, distribute, display and perform this work; as well as make derivative and commercial works. Please credit “Marxists Internet Archive” as your source.
Members of the Standing Committee and Comrades!
On behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, I now submit for your consideration a proposal to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for convening the Fifth National People's Congress before the due date.
The proposal is made by the C.P.C. Central Committee after careful consideration. Our Party and state underwent a series of extraordinary emergencies last year. Our great leader and teacher Chairman Mao Tsetung, the founder of our Party, our army and our People's Republic, passed away. So did his long-tested and close comrades-in-arms Comrade Chu Teh, Chairman of' the N.P.C. Standing Committee, and Comrade Chou En-lai, Premier of the State Council. Our Party carried out Chairman Mao's behest and crushed the criminal scheme of the Wang-Chang-Chiang-Yao "gang of four" to usurp the supreme leadership of the Party and the state. The smashing of this gang brought great joy to the Party, the army and the people. The tremendous victory of this great political revolution ushered in a new stage of development in our country's socialist revolution and socialist construction. The Marxist line for this new stage formulated by our Party at its 11th National Congress has won warm support from the whole Party, the whole army and the people of all nationalities in the country. The people are vigorous and in high spirits, and work on all fronts is forging ahead triumphantly. To continue to eliminate the pernicious influence of the "gang of four" on state power, consolidate and develop politically and organizationally the victory of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and of the struggle in smashing the "gang of four" in particular, to implement fully the line of the 11th Party Congress, carry out the strategic decision of grasping the key link of class struggle and bringing about great order across the land, further consolidate and strengthen the dictatorship of the proletariat and usher in a high tide in socialist economic and cultural construction, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China holds that it is imperative to convene the Fifth National People's Congress before the due date. This conforms entirely to the wishes and aspirations of the people. The domestic situation and the international situation at present are excellent and the conditions are ripe for convening this congress.
Prior to it, new people's congresses must be convoked in the provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. One of the main tasks of these congresses is to ensure the success of the election of revolutionary committees at the provincial, municipal and autonomous regional levels and, at the same time, work should be done well in electing deputies to the Fifth National People's Congress. This will provide the organizational guarantee for the successful convocation of this congress.
An important aspect of grasping the key link of class struggle and bringing about great order across the land is to do a good job in building up the political power and consolidate and strengthen leading bodies of state organs at the central and local levels. Because of the interference and sabotage by the Lin Piao anti-Party clique and the anti-Party "gang of four" in particular, some bad people managed to worm their way into the revolutionary committees of the provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, and some members of the revolutionary committees made grave mistakes in the two-line struggles but have refused to repent; they have thus alienated themselves from the masses and can no longer represent the people. The people's congresses at the provincial, municipal and autonomous regional levels have not held sessions for a long time and revolutionary committees have not been reelected in good time. Under these circumstances, the revolutionary committees have not effectively played the role they should. At the forthcoming new people's congresses, the provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions must give full scope to democracy and, in accordance with the five requirements for successors in the revolutionary cause and the principle of combining the old, the middle-aged and the young as stipulated by Chairman Mao, elect efficient and competent revolutionary committees which will firmly carry out Chairman Mao's revolutionary line and the principles and policies of the Party Central Committee, maintain close ties with the masses, fight in unity and enjoy a high prestige among the people. Members of the provincial, municipal and autonomous regional revolutionary committees should include representatives of all fronts, trades and professions and circles. Acknowledged outstanding members among workers, peasants, revolutionary soldiers, revolutionary cadres and intellectuals and advanced people who enjoy genuine prestige among the masses and have made real contributions to the socialist revolution and socialist construction should be elected to the revolutionary committees. Smash-and-grabbers and those who "indulge in creating disturbances in the hope of becoming officials" should definitely be excluded. In a word, the revolutionary committees elected must be good so that the people will rejoice and support them and feel encouraged when the lists of the members are announced. This will be conducive to mobilizing the initiative of all sections of the people, and the revolutionary committees will be able to play their role effectively.
At the provincial, municipal and autonomous regional people's congresses, outstanding people of various fields of work and representative personages should be elected deputies to the Fifth National People's Congress through full discussion and democratic consultation. In order to make these congresses a success and have ample time to prepare for the Fifth National People's Congress, the C.P.C. Central Committee considers it appropriate to hold the Fifth National People's Congress next spring.
The C.P.C. Central Committee proposes that the Fifth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference be convened while the Fifth National People's Congress is in session, so as to further develop the revolutionary united front led by the working class and based on the worker-peasant alliance, which includes patriotic democratic parties, patriotic personages, Taiwan compatriots and compatriots in Hongkong and Macao arid overseas Chinese.
The convocation of the Fifth National People's Congress and the Fifth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference will be major events in the political life of the people of all nationalities in our country and in grasping the key link of class struggle and running the country well in order to bring about great order across the land. Through the two conferences, we must revive and carry forward the Party's fine traditions and tyle of seeking truth from facts, following the mass line, conducting criticism and self-criticism, practising democratic centralism and hard work and plain living and make these the practice among the people throughout the country, so as gradually to create a political situation in which we have both centralism and democracy, both discipline and freedom, both unity of will and personal ease of mind and liveliness. This will be helpful to our struggle in further deepening the exposure and criticism of the "gang of four" in the political and ideological fields, uniting all the forces that can be united, mobilizing all positive factors and transforming passive factors into positive factors, overcoming the difficulties created by the "gang of four," rapidly developing our country's socialist revolution and socialist construction and further consolidating the dictatorship of the proletariat.
Socialist China will surely flourish and become powerful; the goal of the four modernizations will certainly be attained! Together with the people of all nationalities in our country, let us hold high the great banner of Chairman Mao, continue the revolution and make concerted efforts to achieve this great goal!