Xi Jinping Ready to Merge Power at The Chinese Communist Party Congress

The 20^th Congress of the Communist Party of China is here. Chinese President Xi Jinping is on the verge of becoming the country’s most influential and powerful leader in decades. This happens as the members of the Communist Party, the Chinese ruling party, prepare for their sequential twice-a-decade meeting beginning on Sunday. In the past years, members set the meeting to be a smooth transition of power from one leader to another. Typically, the outgoing leader would pass the title to a new, carefully chosen leader.

However, this year a change in the norm is expected as Xi might override the norm and take up a third term as the secretary general. This will place the Chinese government into a new dawn of strongman rule, thus making the country uncertain when or how a new leader will take over. Over the years, the Party Congress has been one of the most watched-out meetings. As it holds its 20^th meeting, the world will be curious to know the leadership fate of the planet’s second most vast economy.

Known as the Party Congress, the Chinese Communist Party’s National Congress is a meeting that occurs for about seven days twice every ten years. The initial aim of the meeting is to choose another leader for the party. However, other important subjects, such as the party’s constitution and the nation’s policies, are also discussed in the meeting. The Congress is usually scheduled for October or November, with about 2,300 representatives from different parts of the nation. These representatives are referred to as delegates and are carefully selected for this meeting. They include top-ranking officials, military personnel, and other grassroots representatives such as farmers and industrial workers. According to the statistics released ahead of this year’s meeting, just above 25% of these delegates are women, while around 11% represent the ethnic minorities in the country.

The meeting is centred around the Communist Party, which dictates the individuals who will fill the successive government positions in China. Nonetheless, the Congress Party meeting is very different from a state meeting. For instance, although it is expected that Xi Jinping might be chosen as the party’s general secretary for another third term, he will not be declared the country’s president. This will happen during the yearly legislative meeting that’s scheduled for March next year.

The Leadership-Choosing Procedure

During the Congress meeting, the delegates usually carry out the voting process. However, most people believe that the voting process is done only for formality and do not have a say on who will emerge victorious. Instead, many believe that a few top officials usually choose the party’s next leaders in an opaque way before the Congress meeting.

The delegates’ voting process is for choosing a new Central committee. This committee comprises 200 members and alternatives of around a similar number. These members, as a committee, are in charge of officially choosing the Politburo members. Just after the Congress meeting, the newly elected members of the Central Committee meet to select the Standing committee and the Politburo.

Followers of Chinese politics believe that deciding who will fill which spots in the Central Committee is typically made via a backroom process months before the Congress meeting is held. As we head into this year’s Congress meeting, many believe that Xi Jinping has overwhelmed most of his opponents and, in addition, dampened the power of the party elders. These party elders are supposed to have a crucial role in decision-making.

When Will the Winner Be Revealed?

After the Central committee has been chosen, the top most leaders in China will enter the Great Hall of the people located in Beijing. The leaders will enter the hall aligned according to the position they hold. Xi, who many expect to be the new general secretary, will lead the Central committee and introduce the members of the newly formed Standing committee. The event is usually live on national television.

Those following politics in China will be keen to know who are members of the newly formed Standing committee, giving them an insight as to whether Xi Jinping had absolute powers. Additionally, the watchers will also scan through the members to identify Xi’s successor. This a crucial piece of information that might predict how long Xi plans to rule. The 20th Party Congress scheduled for 16th October in Beijing has already set the ball rolling. An exceptional amount of power will be placed into the hands of Xi Jinping, and his premiership will have the opportunity to shape China’s direction for the next few decades. It will be interesting to see how this leadership council reshapes China’s domestic and foreign policies in the years ahead. Will Xi Jinping seek to impress domestic Chinese factions, or will he aim for a more internationally oriented agenda? What does 2023 hold for Xi Jinping and China? We sure will find out in the next couple of days.