Workers' and Peasants' Inspection of East Germany
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- Central Commission for State Control (de facto)
- Committee for People's Control
| Arbeiter-und-Bauern-Inspektion | |
 | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 14 May 1963 |
| Preceding agency |
|
| Dissolved | 4 January 1990 |
| Superseding agency |
|
| Jurisdiction | East Germany |
| Headquarters | Clara-Zetkin-Strasse 93, East Berlin, East Germany |
| Employees | 677 (1969) |
| Agency executive |
|
| Parent department | Central Committee of the SED Council of Ministers of East Germany |
The Workers' and Peasants' Inspection (German: Arbeiter-und-Bauern-Inspektion) (ABI) was a ministry-level control organ in East Germany jointly subordinate to the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and the Council of Ministers. Its purpose was to ensure the strict implementation of party decisions and laws, with particular emphasis on holding economic institutions accountable.
Though select controls were used in propaganda, the ABI's actual significance only ever declined throughout its existence. Its controls were tightly constrained, among other things omitting political parties entirely, and it rarely made use of its disciplinary powers. It was abolished during the Peaceful Revolution.
Inception
The Workers' and Peasants' Inspection was established on 14 May 1963 as part of Walter Ulbricht's New Economic System economic reforms by a decision of the Central Committee of the SED and a resolution of the Council of Ministers. It was accountable to both,[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]: 9 the oversight on the Council of Ministers' side being the direct responsibility of its chairman.[8]: 111
Though not a legal successor,[1] it largely supplanted the concurrently dissolved Central Commission for State Control (German: Zentrale Kommission für Staatliche Kontrolle) (ZKSK),[1][3][4][5][9] which was a purely state organ,[5] taking over part of its staff and structure.[1][6] Its activities, like those of the preceding ZKSK, were based on the Soviet concept of joint control of economic and social developments by citizens and the government.[5][6][9] More than the ZKSK, the ABI was intended to involve volunteers in its inspections.[1] It closely resembled the Soviet People's Control Commission.[5]
Honecker era
The failure of the New Economic System meant that the ABI also lost influence. Walter Ulbricht's successor Erich Honecker limited the scope of the ABI in August 1974.[6][7]: 11 f.
From then on, the ABI was only to ensure the fulfillment of the economic plan, by closely monitoring the implementation of SED decisions, adherence to production plans, the avoidance of bureaucratism and the improvement of organization and leadership.[6][7]: 11–12
Peaceful Revolution
During the Peaceful Revolution, the Presidium of the Volkskammer subordinated the Workers' and Farmers' Inspection to the Volkskammer and renamed it to "Committee for People's Control" (German: Komitee für Volkskontrolle) by resolution on 4 January 1990.[1][3][4][6]
It was supposed to now provide non-partisan public controls, but it soon became apparent that the structures and tasks of the ABI had outlived their usefulness.[1] Chairman Heinz Kittner proposed to convert the Committee to a Court of Audit, but this was rejected by Volkskammer President Sabine Bergmann-Pohl.[8]: 362 The newly elected de Maizière government formally dissolved it in May 1990 and it was liquidated from June to December of that year.[1] The ABI had already ceased its activities by the time of the Volkskammer elections in March.[3][4]
Work
The Workers' and Peasants' Inspection's task was to monitor the implementation of national economic and perspective plans as well as various economic policy goals, enforce "state discipline" and hold state and economic institutions and social organizations accountable;[9] "sloppiness, mismanagement, waste, heartless behavior, local narrow-mindedness, whitewashing, the misuse of official positions and the squandering or misappropriation of public property" were to be uncovered.[1]
The system was built on, at last count, around 280,000 volunteers, known as "people's inspectors" (German: Volkskontrolleure), who were employed in cooperatives, enterprises and combines, ministries and administrations.[3] Volkskontrolleure did not have to be members of the SED.[5] They monitored their colleagues, though only members of ABI committees were authorized to issue binding directives and impose disciplinary measures,[5][9] so their actual influence was relatively limited. ABI committees furthermore rarely made use of disciplinary measures; in 1980, the ABI imposed 1,856 binding directives, but only 13 administrative penalties.[6]
Nevertheless, newspapers often reported on the successes of the people's inspectors, especially in matters of supply shortages and poor service delivery and particularly egregious cases were even analyzed on East German television, especially on the current affairs television programme Prisma.[6][10] However, in total, only 15% of ABI controls were ever made public and emphasis was placed on propaganda value.[6][7]: 5 Cases that could have pointed to wrong decisions and errors by the party and state leadership were not discussed, the blame often being put primarily on individuals.[6][7]: 5
Angered by negative reports by Prisma on the East German economy, Central Committee Secretary responsible for economics Günter Mittag forbade the ABI from giving access to their reports to Prisma in 1987, though they continued to receive them through other channels.[11]
In addition, the leadership and boards of parties, mass organizations, certain ministries (especially the ministries of the so-called "armed organs" such as the Stasi), the public prosecutor's office and courts, as well as the press remained excluded from ABI controls.[1][5]
