The Pengshan County Committee of Meishan City, Sichuan Province has recently introduced the "Evaluation Method for Cadre Virtue at the Section Level" (Trial), which stipulates that parents, neighbors, and even property management opinions should be sought before promoting cadres. As of July 17, five cadres in Pengshan County have passed this evaluation, among whom one cadre was deducted two points because he did not like doing housework.
According to the "Evaluation Method for Cadre Virtue at the Section Level", special investigations are conducted on cadres being promoted, while annual evaluations are carried out on already-promoted cadres. The evaluation content includes political virtue worth 30 points, professional ethics worth 28 points, public morality worth 28 points, and family virtues worth 14 points. Comprehensive evaluations above 90 points are considered excellent, between 80-89 points as good, between 60-79 points as average, and below 60 points as poor. Cadres with scores below 80 points will not be considered for promotion; those already promoted with annual evaluation scores below 80 points will have their year-end bonuses withheld, receive admonitory talks, and may even be reassigned if necessary.
In the method, aspects such as lifestyle, interests, friendships, whether they respect their parents and treat their spouses and children well, and whether family and neighborhood relations are harmonious are all included in the evaluation. Deputy Minister Ning Wu of the Organization Department of Pengshan County Committee said, "Family virtues, including respecting parents and maintaining harmonious family and neighborhood relationships, account for 14 points." He added that disrespecting parents would result in an automatic disqualification, and cadres wanting to be promoted must also consider whether their families, neighbors, and even property management agree.
Ning Wu stated that this is a trial by Pengshan County aimed at addressing the vague and hollow nature of evaluating leaders' virtues. It seeks to make the evaluation methods more operable and the results more straightforward.
Some people question whether there are specific standards in moral aspects: "Is this evaluation system effective? Is it appropriate?" In response, relevant officials from the Discipline Inspection Commission and the Organization Department of Pengshan County said that they are continuously expanding the scope of opinion solicitation and improving some indicators.
Parents Must Be Consulted Before Promotion
According to data from the Organization Department of Pengshan County Committee, five cadres in Pengshan who were promoted have undergone this evaluation.
"I never expected the investigation team to call my parents for inquiries," said Li Hong (a pseudonym), who just passed the evaluation on July 17. "They asked my parents how often I called home, how often I returned home, whether I called them on their birthdays, and what their opinions were regarding my promotion."
Li Hong's parents were also surprised, wondering whether decisions about their children’s work could actually involve parental input. Moreover, the investigation team went to the residential community where Li Hong lived and conducted investigations at the property management office.
"Do you park your car haphazardly in the community? Have you ever quarreled with your neighbors? Do you litter? Are your property fees, water, electricity, and gas fees paid on time? What do you think about him becoming a leader?" said Mr. Liu, a staff member of the property management office in Li Hong's residential area. He thought that the "disciplinary inspection personnel" were investigating Li Hong, so he answered truthfully. Mr. Liu recalled that the questioning lasted about ten minutes.
Deducted Two Points for Not Doing Housework
It is understood that all five evaluated cadres have passed, but all were deducted points in the family virtue aspect. One cadre was deducted two points due to his dislike for doing housework, leading to the lowest total score among them. "When we inquired with his family, his wife said that he rarely did housework at home and was relatively lazy," said a member of the investigation team. "After confirming this with other family members, we deducted two points and recorded it in the file."
When speaking about being deducted points, this cadre expressed shame and said that he would definitely pay more attention to taking care of his family in the future. His wife said that she knew the investigation team was evaluating her husband, but she didn't know that not doing housework would result in point deductions.