Qin Xiyan, a lawyer and NPC deputy from Hunan province. [Photo/ce.cn]

Deputies should be able to disclose replies

Qin Xiyan, a lawyer and NPC deputy from Hunan province, said that NPC deputies should be allowed to decide whether to disclose replies to their suggestions from related government departments during a NPC panel discussion on Monday.

According to Qin, he brought up eight motions and nine suggestions last year and he received replies in the second half of the year. Many replies were marked with "not for publication" or "deputies only", which put Qin in a difficult position to give the people he represented a fair account of what happened to his suggestions.

He believed deputies should have the power to decide whether the replies go public. If they are not happy with the replies, they could always seek help from the media as a way to make the related department accountable to the people.