China's leaders draw up formal party rules to control members
Guidelines for drawing up laws seen as essential to avoiding a crisis of legitimacy for the party
Making sure the Communist Party's 80 million members are strictly controlled is imperative for the party's new leadership, amid a looming legitimacy crisis.
Analysts say Monday's release of procedural requirements for the formulation of party rules has signalled party chief Xi Jinping's intention to introduce the rule of law into the management of its members.
There should not be two co-existing legal systems in one country - one the state's and the other the party's
The two documents released by the party's Central Committee deal with which party organs are authorised to draft, approve, publish, amend or abolish party regulations and what procedures they should follow.
Xinhua said they were the first formal documents to regulate the making of party rules since it was founded in 1921 and were an important move to improve its internal management and supervision. Thirteen years ago, the party published a temporary regulation on formulating party rules.
Professor Gu Su, a constitutional law expert with Nanjing University, said it was "a significant step by the new leadership to introduce rule of law into the management of party members amid a legitimacy crisis due to widespread abuse of power and corruption".
Chen Ziming, a political affairs analyst, said it was aimed at strengthening central control of the party's many regional and departmental organs and grass-roots cells.
Gu said the move reflected Xi's philosophy of focusing on the rule of law, citing a series of recent statements by Xi on the subject.