Xi Jinping seems invincible despite all the difficulties encountered during his last term. The Chinese president is expected to be reappointed as head of the country for a third time during the annual session of the Chinese Parliament. Neither the deaths from the pandemic, nor the angry demonstrations in November against health restrictions, nor the economic cost of the latter seem to stand in the way.
At the Communist Party congress in October, the 69-year-old, in power since 2012, had already been extended for five years as head of the political organization and the army, becoming the most powerful leader in decades. decades. And if the recent turmoil in China has cracked his image as an infallible leader, this will not affect the careful staging of the parliamentary session, an annual political high mass.
As every year, the nearly 3,000 deputies of the National People’s Congress (ANP) will ratify as one man the decisions of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in power – in particular the appointment of a new Prime Minister -, within the framework ceremony at the People’s Palace in Beijing. The session is expected to last about ten days and the new presidential term is expected to be voted on towards the end. A priori, Li Qiang, close to the president and leader of the party in Shanghai, will be appointed Prime Minister.
The Untouchable Xi Jinping
“Public opinion regarding [Xi Jinping] is probably not very good, the zero Covid has undermined the confidence of the population, ”observes Alfred Muluan Wu, associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. Despite this, the president maintains a “fairly strong” position at the top of the party, which makes him virtually untouchable, he adds. As the country appears to be slowly emerging from the pandemic, Xi Jinping, who has placed his most loyal supporters in high party posts, appears more powerful than ever.
This week, a long portrait published by the People’s Daily described him as a tireless leader, praising his sense of sacrifice and assuring that “ordinary people see him as a dear relative”. And finally, the November protests, far from shaking him, “gave him exactly the exit door he was looking for,” said Christopher Johnson, CEO of the consulting firm China Strategies Group. “If the abandonment of zero Covid-19 went well, he could say that he listened to the people. If it went wrong, he could blame the protesters and the ‘hostile foreign forces’ which his security chief has publicly suggested were supporting them,” he wrote in the magazine. Foreign Affairs.
On Sunday, outgoing Prime Minister Li Keqiang will present his report, which will indicate the growth target for 2023 – expected at 5.3%, one of the weakest in decades, by a consensus of economists polled by the ‘France Media Agency. He will also unveil the defense budget, which has continued to increase year after year: in a context of strong tensions between China and the United States, in particular on the question of Taiwan, it should again progress.