China proposes removing presidential term limits

BEIJING: China’s ruling Communist Party yesterday set the stage for President Xi Jinping to stay in office indefinitely, with a proposal to remove a constitutional clause limiting presidential service to just two terms.

Nearing the end of his first five-year term, Xi, 64, will be formally elected to a second at the annual meeting of China’s largely rubberstamp parliament opening on March 5.

There is no limit on his tenure as the party and military chief, though a maximum 10year term is the norm.

He began his second term as head of the party and military in October at the end of a once-every-five-years party congress.

State news agency Xinhua, which carried the announcement, said the proposal had been made by the party’s central committee, the largest of its elite ruling bodies.

“The Communist Party of China Central Committee proposed to remove the expression that the President and VicePresident of the People’s Republic of China ‘shall serve no more than two consecutive terms’ from the country’s Constitution.”

The committee also proposed inserting “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era” into the constitution, Xinhua said in a separate report, referring to Xi’s guiding political thought that is already in the arguably more important Communist Party constitution.

Constitutional reform needs to be approved by parliament. – Reuters