BEIJING – The parliament of China unanimously re-elected Xi Jinping as the country’s president for the second term on Saturday with a swooping 2,970 votes inside central Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.
Besides the second term, what would bolster XI’s position is the constitutional amendment to remove presidential term limits, meaning Xi can stay indefinitely in power to see the rise of the state he is leading with an iron fist.
The Communist Party-controlled legislature was slated to crown Jinping for the second term, however, all eyes were set on whether his former anti-corruption enforcer, Wang Qishan, would become his deputy or not, however, Wang’s appointment was also confirmed with only a single vote in opposition by an unidentified lawmaker.
XI’s victory is interesting owing to the fact that in 2013, four lawmakers withheld support for his first term, however, for the second term, no one opposed the election, making XI the first one to have a unanimous election in at least a quarter-century.
In 2013, Xi had received 2,952 votes, with one against and three abstentions, a 99.86 percent share that swelled to 100 percent in 2018.
The National People’s Congress has widely expanded Xi’s command during its annual session, adding his name to the constitution and lifting the embargo of two five-year term limit for the presidency and vice presidency.
Xi received a standing ovation after winning all 2,970 votes for the presidency and Central Military Commission chairman before taking the oath of his office.
“I pledge loyalty to the constitution of the People’s Republic of China” Xi recited, vowing to strenuously struggle to build a rich, strong, democratic and civilised country as he put his left hand on a red-covered book containing the charter.
On the other hand, the 69-year-old Vice President, who had stepped down from the Communist Party last year had has kept a prominent profile, sharing the table as the seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee during the public sessions of the National People’s Congress.
Wang was at the frontline of Xi’s anti-corruption purge, heading the party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, which has punished 1.5 million officials in the past five years, from low-level officials to civilian bigwigs and generals.
Wang’s appointment is crucial for ‘rising China’ as he can help Xi deal with increasingly frayed relations with the Trump-led United States amid fears of a trade war.
