Xi begins his historic third term

Xi Jinping he was crowned as the most powerful man in China since Mao Zedong, without any political counterbalance and no term limits. With thunderous applause from almost three thousand members who make up National People’s Assembly They celebrated the election of Xi Jinping as the country’s president in the Great Hall of the People.

The session on Friday did not fall out of the schedule. Xi was unanimously ratified in the office, without a single vote against or a single abstention. After the vote, he took the oath with a raised fist and on a copy of the Constitution. He promised to be “loyal to the country [y] loyal to the people”, while working to “build a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, more civilized and harmonious”.

The festive moment also had political importance. The oath was taken on the same constitution that added Xi’s political thinking to its statutes and was amended in 2018 to remove the two-term presidential term limit. The vote closed the long process of controlling all sources of power.

The Chinese leader was also elected chairman of the Central Military Commission, a position equivalent to the head of the armed forces. In October, he was confirmed as the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Now Xi controls the command of the government, the military and the CPC under his baton. No one has gained such power since Mao Zedong, and he shares another characteristic with him: the cult of personality.

The president has surrounded himself with a team of loyal associates who will govern. Han Zheng, 68, was also elected as the country’s new vice president this Friday, replacing Wang Qishan. It is basically a representative position, but it recognizes the work that Han has done in the past mandate. By October, Han Zheng was part of the power core, a select club of seven people who make up the Politburo Standing Committee.

Zhao Leji, 66, and the feared former head of the party’s anti-corruption commission, has been elected chairman of the Standing Committee of the PNA, China’s legislative body. The regime’s number two, Li Qiang, is expected to be confirmed as prime minister over the weekend.

During his two years in power, Xi moved towards a more authoritarian system. Not only was control over the population increased, suppressing any dissent, but also over the private sector. To achieve this, the president has reformed state structures and this Friday approved the creation of new regulatory bodies, under the control of the Communist Party of China, to strengthen the financial system and promote technological self-sufficiency.

The holding of the plenary session also confirms the loss of power of the Communist Youth League faction to which outgoing Premier Li Keqiang belongs. None of its representatives hold relevant positions either in the party or at the top of the Government. The accumulation of so much power in the hands of Xi Jinping, who has surrounded himself with a team of loyalists, has its downsides. From now on, mistakes can only be attributed to him.