Parliament reelects Xi President

Ismail Hossain, Beijing | Published: March 17, 2018 22:47:10

Xi Jinping was re-elected China's President on Saturday by a unanimous vote in the current session of the 13th National People's Congress.
The National People's Congress, China's supreme legislature, also appointed Xi's close ally Wang Qishan as the vice president of China.
Both of them took oath along with other officials after the election at the Great Hall of the People. This is the first time China's president took oath publicly before taking office. The oath-taking ceremony was held just six days after the national legislature added oaths of allegiance to the newly-amended Constitution last Sunday.
Xi, 64, was also elected chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of China by unanimous vote.
In 2013, Xi had received 2952 votes during his first tenure, with one against and three abstentions. This time, he received all 2970 votes from deputies and representatives.
In October last year, he was elected general-secretary of the central committee of the Communist Party of China.
In 2007, Xi joined the central leadership as a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the party's central committee.
He was elected general-secretary of the central body in late 2012. Later in March 2013, he was made the Chinese president and the military chairman as well.
According to China's constitution, party general-secretary and president of the state will be the same person. There is no president or chairman in the party.
Vice president Wang Qishan was elected with 2969 votes, with one against.
Wang, 69, used to be the secretary of the party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, China's top anti-graft watchdog.
He is on the frontline of Xi's anti-corruption crusade, which had punished around 1.5 million officials, including ministers and high-level officials in the past five years.
Li Zhanshu was elected chairman of the 13th National People's Congress Standing Committee at the ongoing annual session.
Li is a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the party's central committee.
The lawmakers also elected 14 vice chairpersons and the secretary general of the Congress Standing Committee.
On March 11, deputies of the Congress voted for the constitutional amendment, which removed the two-term limit for President and Vice President proposed by the ruling party.
The amendment also adopted Xi's thought on socialism in the constitution and included new high-powered anti-corruption body.
Meanwhile, the session also adopted a massive cabinet restructuring plan to make the government better-structured, more efficient, and service-oriented.
The adoption will create an immigration administration, an agency to coordinate foreign aid, a combined banking and insurance regulator, ministries of veterans affairs, emergency management, natural resources, among other things.
bdsmile@gmail.com