Four dishes and one soup for official reception

In May of 20 13, there were at least three standard aliasing phenomena in "four dishes and one soup".

First, the quantity remains unchanged, and the dishes appear "luxury upgraded version". Originally, they should be ordinary dishes for economic reasons, but in many places they have been replaced by sea cucumber, shark's fin, abalone and delicious food, which are extremely luxurious.

The second is to play the number game of "big dish and small dish". At first glance, it is "four dishes and one soup" and four plates. However, each plate is very big, and there are also small plates in the big plate. There are different dishes in the small plate, and the overall number far exceeds "four dishes and one soup".

The third is to play tricks when serving. First, serve a "four dishes and one soup", and then take it out after the guests have finished eating. Anyway, there are always four dishes and one soup on the table. With the growing voice of "opposing waste", as the standard of official reception in that year, "four dishes and one soup" was repeatedly mentioned by grassroots cadres and masses. However, the reporter visited many places and learned that due to the lack of rigid regulations and operability, the phenomenon of "four dishes and one soup" gradually became out of shape, which did not play its due role in curbing public funds to eat and drink.

According to the above statement, it seems that we can formulate specific rules around "four dishes and one soup" and put forward countermeasures for the confusion of several standards. However, in my opinion, even with the implementation rules, it is still difficult to stop public funds from eating and drinking, because the essential problems of public funds are: First, lack of constraints on public power; Second, there is a lack of constraints on public funds. Therefore, only from these two aspects, it is possible to produce practical results.

The main reason why some officials are repeatedly invited to eat and drink is that they have some powers, such as project approval, year-end inspection, official assessment and personnel transfer. Because the power in hand can be used at will, people who want to hold the power in hand have to "drink table public relations" If all these powers are put in cages, the phenomenon of eating and drinking with public funds will probably be greatly reduced.

For example, the media revealed that Beijing's "one street for ministries and commissions" has now been transformed into a working class, because officials of ministries and commissions with many approval powers are afraid to eat and drink here in public. If the approval authority of many projects is really cancelled or devolved according to the requirements of the State Council, I am afraid that "one street for ministries" will be permanently transformed in the future. Let's wait and see!

On the other hand, we must pay close attention to public funds. If governments at all levels formulate detailed budgets, which are carefully examined and approved by people's congresses and deputies at all levels, and if the public fully supervises and participates in the final accounts like Hong Kong, there will undoubtedly be little room for public funds to eat and drink. Of course, it is necessary to comprehensively clean up the "small coffers" of all units and include all extra-budgetary funds in the budget.

If power and money are controlled, there will be little room for official reception. If the general official reception is forcibly cancelled, strict reception standards and approval procedures will be formulated for special official reception, including where to hold the banquet, the number of participants, the standard of meals per person and who will approve and supervise it. If the limited special reception is standardized and institutionalized, the official reception will be honest and frugal.

Frankly speaking, the practical significance of revisiting "four dishes and one soup" today seems limited. On the one hand, "four dishes and one soup" was originally the standard of state banquet, but it was not institutionalized and standardized nationwide; On the other hand, due to China's rich diet and different consumption levels, it is difficult to formulate the standard of "four dishes and one soup". Even if the standards are formulated, there will be "policies at the top and countermeasures at the bottom".

Moreover, the central "eight regulations" did not mention the standard of "four dishes and one soup", which also has profound significance. In a society ruled by law, it is the best policy to grasp the essence of the problem and solve it by legal means. Only by "making a fuss" about power and money and managing public funds to eat and drink can there be a "play".