The achievements of the predecessor cannot become a burden for the successor
(Source:《Study Times》Date: 2026-05-04)
Author: Huang Chuangen Zhang Xiaofeng
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the wrong view of political performance is "based on the interests of individuals or small groups, being impetuous, eager for quick success, cheating, blindly and recklessly, engaging in 'image projects' and 'achievement projects', leaving behind baggage and hidden dangers, causing strong dissatisfaction among the people." In reality, some local leading cadres blindly pursue short-term performance, leaving heavy debts, unfinished projects, polluted ecology, interrupted planning and other "hot potatoes" for their successors. The "predecessors' political achievements" become "the burden of their successors." This kind of chaos of "one person's political achievements and another's debts" and "one person's glory and everyone's sorrow" fundamentally deviates from the party's purpose, harms the interests of the people, and pollutes the political ecology. It must be highly vigilant and resolutely rectified.
A closer look at the "baggage" that breeds it shows that it manifests itself in a variety of ways. After spending too much money on food, a huge debt burden was left behind. Some cadres ignored the actual financial resources of the local area, regarded large-scale borrowing and disguised financing as a "fast lane for political performance", and rushed to launch "big projects" and "big projects" to blindly create so-called development. A new engine only leaves a heavy debt burden in the end; a great success leaves behind unfinished baggage. Some cadres pursue the misconception of "spreading the road" and blindly build large engineering projects. In the end, the eye-catching "digital achievements" are just "empty". Fishing in the middle of the lake has left behind the burden of ecological and people's livelihood. Some cadres have short-sightedly exchanged for explicit indicators during their term by overdrafting people's livelihood and well-being and destroying the ecological environment, leaving huge problems for their successors to make up for people's livelihood shortfalls and repair ecological loopholes. The price is high; starting from scratch leaves behind the burden of development faults. Some cadres are keen on "new officials ignore old scores". In order to create their own "new political achievements", they overthrow the original industrial layout and people's livelihood projects and start over, causing the initial investment to be wasted.
If this trend does not continue, it will cause far-reaching harm. The first is to overdraw local development potential. Local development requires a blueprint to be drawn to the end and carried out one task after another. If each builds one thing and another, and then expands eastward and westward at night, new cities will be built and old cities will be demolished, unfinished projects will affect development energy, ecological debt will hinder green transformation, and planning faults will miss development opportunities, which will inevitably lead to local areas falling into the dilemma of "turning over the cake". The second is to directly harm the interests of the masses. There is nothing that the common people hate the most, is that "the predecessor is trying to make things worse, and the successor is trying to make things worse". When the "predecessor's" promise turns into the "successor's" trouble, the masses not only cannot enjoy the development dividends, but also have to bear all the inconveniences and loss of interests caused by the legacy problems. Where does the sense of gain and happiness begin? Third, it seriously pollutes the political ecology. If the "achievement stars" who are good at packaging performances gain the upper hand and the "old scalpers" who are hard-working are left out, it will inevitably encourage the "sprint sprint" speculative mentality and damage the image of party members and cadres who are hard-working and responsible. The spread of this trend will inevitably lead to "bad money driving out good money" and destroying the clean and upright political ecology.
Looking deeply into the root cause of "political performance" becoming "burden", on the surface it is work deviation, but at the deep level it lies in the misplacement of the concept of political performance and the distortion of the concept of power. One is the pursuit of quick success and quick gains. Individual cadres regard their positions as springboards, treat their tenure as "gold-plated", only focus on the "short-term, short-term and fast", only think about "performance", and put personal promotion above local development and people's livelihood and well-being. Second, institutional constraints are not rigid enough. Some local decision-making mechanisms are in name only. The "top leaders" make "one-note speeches" and make decisions based on personal preferences. The procedures such as "three important ones and one big" and democratic appraisal are in vain. Assessment and evaluation emphasize "manifest achievements" rather than "potential achievements" and speed rather than quality. Third, outgoing auditing and accountability are ineffective. "The review is not rigorous and the investigation is not held accountable." Decision-making mistakes that cause heavy losses are often excused by reasons such as "paying tuition fees" and "historical limitations", giving rise to the negative expectation that "it will be safe after leaving office", and in disguise, condoning "the predecessor creates the burden and the successor will foot the bill."
To rectify the phenomenon of "political achievements" turning into "burdens", we must implement targeted policies, treat both the symptoms and root causes, and use a combination of punches. First, tighten the ideological "master switch". To establish and practice a correct view of political achievements, party members and cadres must profoundly answer the fundamental question of "for whom political achievements are established, what kind of political achievements are established, and what is relied upon to achieve political achievements." The real political achievements are by no means “showy” superficial articles, short-term actions of “working hard to save money”, or “glorious and exaggerated” image projects, but should be actual achievements in planning long-term development and improving people’s livelihood and well-being. Secondly, tighten the "iron cage" of the system to ensure scientific decision-making and standardized use of power. Strictly standardize major decision-making procedures, improve the lifelong responsibility system and traceability system for decision-making, so that decision-makers are always in awe, use power prudently, and dare not make "willful decisions" or "leave surprises at will." Again, make good use of the audit “searchlight” and accountability “scalpel”. Seriously carry out audits on the departure of cadres, especially the big accounts, general ledgers, and long-term accounts in key areas such as people's livelihood and ecology. For those who have serious consequences due to blind decision-making, we must not only hold the predecessors accountable, but also prevent successors from "ignoring old accounts" and resolutely rectify the unhealthy trend of "just go away". Finally, calibrate the "baton" of assessment and establish a clear employment orientation. The assessment of cadres must adhere to the combination of apparent performance and potential performance, the unity of the present and the long-term, and take indicators and performance such as improvement of people's livelihood, social progress, and ecological effects as important assessment contents. We insist on judging heroes based on hard work and cadres based on performance, vigorously select "old scalpers" who are practical and responsible, so that there is no market for opportunistic "flower foxes", and establish an employment orientation that emphasizes hard work and performance.
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that a good blueprint, as long as it is scientific, realistic, and meets the people's aspirations, must be carried out one after another like a relay race. In the relay race of local development, every leading cadre should not become an "overdrafter" or a minefielder who harms future generations, but should strive to be a staunch relayer of the party's cause, a loyal guardian of the interests of the people, and a pragmatic builder of local development. They should be diligent, dedicated, pragmatic, hard-working, and striving for excellence, so as to create achievements that can stand the test of practice, the people, and history.
Attachment: Original report link
