The ruling Communist Party is set to make the election of its
elite Central Committee more competitive, which may cast further doubt
over the political futures of several controversial candidates,
including Ling Jihua, outgoing President Hu Jintao's former chief of
staff, sources said.
Nine per cent of the nominees are expected to be
eliminated during the
primary elections for full membership when the congress
Presidium
announces the exact margin today, the sources familiar with
the
party's inner-workings said.
According to delegate Han Guiqing ,
president of the Agricultural
Science Institute in Heilongjiang province, who
was speaking on the
sidelines of the party congress, 19 candidates were
eliminated in the
primary elections yesterday. The current Central Committee
has 204
full members and 163 alternate members.
Competitive voting
margins for the Central Committee at the previous
two party congresses were
8.3 per cent in 2007 and a little over 5 per
cent in 2002.
The
247-member Presidium will review the results of the primary
elections and
decide the candidates who will enter the formal vote
tomorrow at the
concluding session of the congress.
The sources said Ling, once one of
China's most powerful men, was in
danger of being edged out because of
dissatisfaction among more than
2,200 party delegates about the alleged
cover-up of a Ferrari crash
that killed his son on Beijing's North Fourth
Ring Road and seriously
injured two young women. Although the accident
occurred in March, the
news emerged only in September. Despite persistent
rumours Beijing has
swept the scandal under the carpet, ignoring calls for an
inquiry into
Ling's role in the incident and its subsequent
cover-up.
This is largely for fear of its potentially damaging impact on
the
once-in-a-decade leadership succession, especially in the wake of
the
downfall of ex-Politburo member Bo Xilai .
Although the prospects
of Ling, once tipped as a contender for a seat
at the top table of power,
were dimmed when he was transferred to head
the party's United Front Work
Department, he has so far been exempt
from formal investigation.
Party
elders and Bo's supporters argue that Ling and Bo, who was
expelled from the
party and is facing criminal charges, should not be
treated
differently.
"Hu has been put in a delicate situation," one
said.
Even if Hu uses his influence to help get Ling re-elected as
the
Central Committee member, Ling may still face internal
investigation
and have to deal with harsh criticism within the party. But if
Hu
decides not to help, it will leave an embarrassing impression
that,
after staying in power for a decade, he cannot protect his
own
protégé.
Analysts say the increased competitive margins in the
primary
elections of the Central Committee were a step in the right
direction,
but they also noted the formal election of the Central
Committee
tomorrow was unlikely to be competitive. More importantly, there is
no
sign that the party will extend the competitive elections to
the
Politburo and its Standing Committee.
Beijing-based analyst Chen
Ziming said that without sufficient
transparency and openness, the
significance of such progress was not
great.
"Although it is nominally
competitive elections, they are held
separately and behind closed doors among
dozens of delegations and the
results will not be made public before they are
approved by the
Presidium. What's more, no one knows how the Presidium works
or
whether it will overrule the primary election results," he
said.
(South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, November 13, 2012)
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