China set to ratify removal of two- term limit for Xi

Beijing, March 3: China on Saturday formally began its well- choreographed annual Parliament season during which a constitutional amendment removing the two- term limit for President Xi Jinping is expected to be ratified, paving the way for his continuation in power, possibly for life.

The annual Parliament season, during which about 5,000 delegates of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference ( CPPCC) and the legislature the National Peoples Congress ( NPC) would hold full sessions to deliberate on a vast agenda for the year prepared by the ruling Communist Party of China ( CPC).

This year’s sessions assumed significance and attracted considerable ■ attention as days ago, the CPC has proposed constitutional amendment to remove the two- term limit for the president and vice president, setting aside decades old principle of collective leadership.

The proposal sparked off concern and speculation at home and abroad that Xi, heading the CPC and military besides the presidency, who recently began his second five- year term would continue for an unprecedented third term and beyond, wielding unquestionable power exercised by the party founder, Mao Zedong in the heydays of China’s revolution.

The Parliament season formally commenced with the opening of the CPPCC at the Great Hall of People.

It was attended by Xi, now a designated core leader by the party. The opening of the session was telecast live all over the country.