BEIJING: China’s rubber-stamp parliament today allowed President Xi Jinping to rule indefinitely, perhaps for life, as it ratified a contentious constitutional amendment to abolish the two-term presidential limit, making him the most powerful leader since Chairman Mao Zedong.
The amendment to give 64-year-old Xi an indefinite term effectively ended the collective leadership system followed by the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) to avert a dictatorship from emerging in an otherwise one-party state akin to the era of Mao which witnessed the most brutal events like Cultural Revolution resulting in the killings of millions of people.
Set for his second five-year term as President this month, Xi, the most powerful leader in recent decades heading the CPC and the military, will now be the first Chinese leader after founder chairman Mao to remain in power lifelong. (AGENCIES)
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