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Chinese Communists adopt candidate list
2007-10-17
China's Communist Party on Wednesday put forward candidates for leading bodies at a national congress that will determine future leaders of the party -- and ultimately the country. A list of those recommended to join the Central Committee was approved by a committee handling the congress' arrangements that includes President Hu Jintao and other top officials, state broadcaster CCTV said on its main evening news program. It said the names will be passed to the more than 2,200 delegates for deliberation. Candidates were also named for the party's disciplinary commission, the report said. CCTV showed Hu raising his hand to vote in favor of the list, alongside Premier Wen Jiabao and the other six members of the party's governing Politburo Standing Committee. No details were given about the number of candidates or the date and procedures for the election. However, party officials have said the number of candidates would exceed available seats, although the difference is not known. A party official indicated Wednesday the electoral method would not be revealed until after votes are cast, believed to happen on Sunday, the final day of the congress. On Monday, the new Central Committee is expected to elect members of the Politburo, which then produces its Standing Committee, the apex of power in China. Members of that committee are to be revealed Monday. Hu's spot as party leader is not under threat, but he is believed to face challenges in putting allies, including a potential successor, onto the Politburo Standing Committee. Hu is believed to favor his protege, Li Keqiang, the 52-year-old party head of the industrial province of Liaoning. Xi Jinping, 54, head of financial powerhouse Shanghai is also among those likely to get a committee spot and is a possible replacement for Hu, 64, when he steps down at the next congress in 2012. While the twice-a-decade congress is expected to set the tone of national politics for the next five years, most of its agenda has been secret. The dates of the congress weren't even announced until six weeks before it began. While Hu has referred repeatedly to expanding democracy within the party, no candidate lists have been made public and it is not even known how many seats are up for grabs. The Central Committee currently numbers 198, the Politburo 24 and the Politburo Standing Committee nine, including one vacancy due to a death. A key issue is the percentage by which the number of candidates will outnumber available seats. Traditionally, the margin of elimination, known in Chinese as the "cha'e," has been 5 percent, but there has been speculation it might rise to as much as 10 percent. A larger percentage raises the possibility that some vulnerable incumbents, including those identified with former leader Jiang Zemin, will fail to gain enough votes. Secrecy surrounding the proceedings has stoked speculation of a struggle over voting rules between the Hu camp and those who owe their careers to Jiang. The former president remains a leading figure on the congress arrangements committee, despite having given up his official party and government posts over the past five years. "It is logical to assume that Hu would favor expanding the margin of competition," said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a China politics expert at Hong Kong Baptist University. Secrecy surrounding the congress electoral methods was normal for the party, Cabestan said. "It is a little ironic, given all the recent talk about building democracy within the party," Cabestan said. However, Ouyang Song, vice minister of the party's Central Committee Organization Department, indicated to reporters that there would always be limits to the 73 million-member party's openness. "Democracy is the party's lifeline, but unity is also the party's lifeline. While expanding democracy, we must maintain unity and ensure rules are followed," Ouyang said. Deliberations over the Standing Committee lineup have been going on for months and could continue to the last minute.
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