China on Sunday defended its move to remove the two term limit for President Xi Jinping, saying it is important to uphold the authority of the ruling Communist Party and unity of the State leadership.
The Communist Party of China’s Central Committee has proposed to remove the two-term limit for the post of president and vice president through a constitutional amendment.
The proposal sparked off concern and speculation at home and abroad that Xi, heading the CPC and military besides the presidency, who recently began his second five-year term would continue for an unprecedented third term and beyond, wielding unquestionable power exercised
by the party founder, Mao Zedong, in the heydays of China’s revolution.
Explaining for the first time why the CPC opted for such a move, spokesman of the National People’s Congress Zhang Yesui told media here that the president has the term-limit while there was no term limits for head of the party and the military.
“Well according to the constitution of the CPC there is no such provision that there shall be no more than two successive terms for the General Secretary or Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) in the constitution of the China.
The CMC is the overall high command of the 2.3 million strong Chinese military.
“So for the Constitution, it follows the same practice regarding the term of the President. It is conducive to uphold the authority of the Central Committee of the party with Xi Jinping at the core and also unified leadership. It is also conducive to the unified state leadership system”, he said.