According to the current Constitution, between sessions of the NPC, the Standing Committee of the NPC may decide on the nomination of the Premier of the State Council, the nomination of ministers, committee directors, auditors general, secretary-general, etc.; and on the nomination of the Chairman of the Central Military Commission, decide on the nomination of other members of the Central Military Commission. After the adoption of the Draft Amendment to the Organic Law of the National People’s Congress, the appointment and removal of officials at the level of Vice Premier, State Councillor and Vice Chairman of the Military Commission will also be voted on by the Standing Committee of the NPC, which can also be done between sessions of the NPC.
For Xi Jinping, it is clear that it is easier to manipulate a meeting of the National People’s Congress with thousands of people than a Standing Committee of the NPC with more than 10 people. Moreover, the NPC Standing Committee meets once every two months, and can be added at any Time if necessary, allowing the CCP to be more flexible in its personnel appointments and removals.
Current affairs commentator Thump told Hong Kong‘s Apple Daily that this is the first time in more than 30 years that the NPC Organic Law has been amended since it was rewritten in 1982, and that current CCP Vice Premier Han Zheng, Sun Chunlan, Hu Chunhua and Liu He, State Councilors Wei Fenghe, Wang Yong, Wang Yi, Xiao Jie and Zhao Kezhi, as well as Military Commission Vice Chairmen Xu Qiliang and Zhang Yuman, and Central Military Commission members Wei Fenghe, Li Zuocheng, Miao Hua and Zhang Shengmin and others, all of whom may be removed by the NPC Standing Committee during the NPC recess.
The new amendment is to be observed against the backdrop of the 20th Communist Party Congress in 2022, when Xi Jinping hopes to stay in power forever and intends to nip all possible anti-Xi forces in the bud.
As to whether this represents an imminent change in leadership, Samp believes it is quite possible, especially that Hu Chunhua, who is classified as a member of the “regiment faction” among the vice premiers of the State Council, and Han Zheng, who comes from the “Shanghai gang”, will probably be pulled out of office.
He stressed that Xi Jinping will certainly leave ample room for personnel purges: “This kind of sharpening of knives is in line with a series of combinations, such as the recent attempt by many Chinese children to learn how the Communist Party ‘fought the landlords and divided the land’, threatening to attack Taiwan within one to two years, and frantically stifling freedom and human rights in Hong Kong. Hong Kong freedom and human rights, reflecting Xi’s plans to further consolidate power and purge possible opposition forces.”
Wang Zhiqiang, a constitutional scholar in Shanxi, notes that the recent code of conduct issued by the top echelon of the CCP to all party members “must be closely united around the Party Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core,” which apparently means that the NPC must obey the top CCP leader. In his view, the draft amendment cannot be interpreted as an expansion of the NPC Standing Committee’s powers.
Wang told Radio Free Asia that the key point of the draft amendment is that the power of the premier has been further reduced, “Originally, the two sets of party and political teams had their own powers, but now they are unified under the party leadership. Li Keqiang’s power has been reduced or basically no real power before this, so that there is even less power.”
“Personally, I don’t think it can be considered an expansion of power, except that in this situation now, the NPC shares the worries for the President, and anything in the future will sound better if the NPC Standing Committee raises. Because now the power has been all monopolized, there is no opposition force.”
Although the NPC is constitutionally designated as the highest organ of power and is compared by the CCP to the Western Congress, and the NPC Standing Committee is the body that acts between sessions of the NPC, NPC Chairman Li Zhanshu repeatedly emphasized the need to “adhere to the leadership of the Party” and “The NPC will not hesitate to stand on the front line of legal, political and diplomatic struggles whenever the Party and the people need it, and will extend its shoulders to shoulder its political responsibilities. “.
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