How are China's State Leaders Elected?

How are China's State Leaders Elected?
Mar 17, 2013 By eChinacities.com

Editor’s note: the following piece is translated and edited from an article that first appeared in the Beijing News. The article answers the question: how are China’s state leaders elected during the 12th National People’s Congress?

From March 14-16, more than 2,000 delegates to the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) congregate for three plenary meetings to elect and appoint the next group of China's state leaders. This marks the seventh election since the Constitution of the People's Republic of China was adopted in 1982. The '82 Constitution abolished the life-long tenure system for leading cadres, and also named the NPC as the highest organ of state power, giving it the authority to elect the national leaders.

What’s the nomination process for electing the president?

The Constitution says that any citizen of the People's Republic of China who is at least 45 years of age can be elected president or vice president.

According to a bulletin published during the second plenary session of the 18th Chinese Communist Party (CPC) Central Committee on February 28: “This plenary session examines the list of recommended candidates for leading personnel of national institutions, as proposed by the CPC Politburo to be given to the 12th NPC. Once a decision has been made on the proposed candidates, the list will be given to the Presidium of the 12th NPC for recommendation.”

In other words, using the recommendation list of state leaders provided by the CPC Central Committee, the presidium of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) meets to discuss the candidates on the list.

According to a recent Xinhua News Agency report, on March 17, 2008, Chen Sixi, the Director of the Legislative Affairs Committee of the NPC and State Law Center, said: "The presidium of the NPC proposes a list of candidate recommendations based on the suggestions of the CPC Central Committee. This is because the Chinese Communist Party is the ruling party and is the leading force of the state."

On Wednesday, March 13, the presidium gives delegates the list of nominated candidates for the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC), the President and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC). Afterwards, based on the majority opinions of the delegates, the presidium then determines the official candidates for these positions.

On Thursday, March 14, at the fourth plenary meeting of the first sessions of the 12th NPC, delegates vote to elect the Chairman, Vice Chairpersons, General Secretary and members of the 12th NPCSC. They also elect the President and Vice President, as well as the Chairman of the CMC.

Electing the scrutineers

On March 10, at the third plenary meeting of the first session of the 12th NPC, using the methods of election and appointment that were adopted by the presidium, it was announced that 35 scrutineers and two scrutineer-generals would be elected. One scrutineer is elected from each delegation.

"Our delegation has elected a scrutineer in accordance with the requirements of NPC." On the afternoon of March 11, the Guangdong delegation held a meeting, presided over by host and deputy leader of the delegation, Lei Yulan. After the vote, Wu Qing, the director of the Guangdong Gujinlai Law Firm was elected their scrutineer.

Different ballots

According to the methods of election and appointment used in the NPC, a total of nine ballots are printed, six to elect and three to appoint. Election and appointment ballots are slightly different. For election ballots, delegates can vote for, against or abstain, and if they are against, they can choose another candidate. Meanwhile, for appointment ballots, delegates can vote for, against or abstain, but cannot choose another candidate.

The six election ballots are for 1) NPCSC Chairman; 2) NPCSC Vice Chairpersons and General Secretary; 3) NPCSC Members; 4) President and Vice President; 5) CMC Chairman and 6) Chief Justice and Procurator-General. The three appointment ballots are for 1) Premier; 2) Vice Premier, State Council Members, Ministers, Committee Chairs, Governor of the People's Bank of China, the Auditor-General and the Secretary-General; 3) CMC Vice Chairpersons and Members.

Before votes are cast, the hall is normally cleared of working staff and reporters. The NPC also uses a secret ballot process. Delegates can either vote in a private booth or from their seats.

How are the new President and Premier decided?

Different from the nomination process for the President, the Premier and the CMC Vice Chairpersons and Members are not nominated by the Presidium of the NPC. Instead, they are nominated by the President and CMC Chairman, respectively. After being elected, the President and CMC Chairperson will nominate candidates for the Premier and CMC Vice Chairmen. The delegates will look over these lists and decide their choice of candidates for these two positions.

On March 15, during the fifth plenary meeting of the first session of the 12th NPC, the delegates then vote on the Premier, the CMC Vice Chairpersons and Members and the Chief Justice and Procurator-General. After the Premier is decided, he will then nominate candidates for Vice Premier, State Council Members, Ministers, Committee Chairs, Governor of the People's Bank of China, the Auditor-General and the Secretary-General.

On March 16, during the sixth plenary meeting of the first session of the 12th NPC, elections will be held to determine the positions mentioned above. 

Source: news.ifeng.com
 

Related links
The Forbidden Seat: Girl Posing in Hu’s Chair Sacked
10 Things Netizens Think Should Be Addressed at This Month’s NPC Meeting
An “Evil Wind” - Recent High Profile Corruption Cases in China

Warning:The use of any news and articles published on eChinacities.com without written permission from eChinacities.com constitutes copyright infringement, and legal action can be taken.

Keywords: 12th NPC 12th National People’s Congress How are China's State Leaders Elected

3 Comments

All comments are subject to moderation by eChinacities.com staff. Because we wish to encourage healthy and productive dialogue we ask that all comments remain polite, free of profanity or name calling, and relevant to the original post and subsequent discussion. Comments will not be deleted because of the viewpoints they express, only if the mode of expression itself is inappropriate.

13david

Do I see they've got different colour ties? Now there's democracy!

Mar 18, 2013 11:49 Report Abuse

Franck3

It is amazing that the two California senators keep getting re-elected when they have a D & D- rating. So much for the intelligence of the electorate.

Mar 17, 2013 23:39 Report Abuse

Guest2124236

"Elected" lol

Mar 17, 2013 23:28 Report Abuse