China’s National People’s Congress on Sunday voted in favor of a plan to abolish presidential term limits, making it possible for President Xi Jinping to stay in power indefinitely and cementing a dramatic shift in Chinese politics.
At Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on the western edge of Tiananmen Square, 2,964 delegates to cast their votes, with 2,958 voting in favor of the constitutional amendment, two against, three abstentions and one invalid vote.
The ballot, which was largely symbolic, came two weeks after Communist Party-controlled media announced the proposal. It included other changes designed to put Xi and the party at the very heart of Chinese life.
It is the clearest evidence yet that Xi plans to rule beyond the end of this second term, in 2023, taking China back to the era of one-man rule just as it steps up its role in global politics.
(c) 2018, The Washington Post · Emily Rauhala
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