National congress

The meeting of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is very important in the sense that it determines the leadership of China and its goals. The status of China on the world scene is obvious to everyone and everyone knows the importance of China especially for Pakistan.

The National Congress is the only institution that has not allowed today's China to falter; when the former Soviet Union was getting closer day by day to the former, opponents of communism held demonstrations. And then the Soviet Union reached its end and the question arose in front of the world, China in particular: what is the future of communism in China? At that time, the top minds of the Communist Party sat together and began to study with deep consideration that the Soviet Union would eventually end.

After this study, China made large-scale changes in its economic system to prevent China from being politically disintegrated due to any economic failures, and the Communist Party succeeded in this. The current meeting is of particular importance in that it is believed that the current Chinese President Xi will be elected for a third term. In 2018, the Chinese constitution was amended to remove the requirement to be elected only twice and remove the ban on being elected to a third term. In this regard, the Western world and its media have been engaged in propaganda for a long time that President Xi is destroying the values established by the National Congress. The propaganda campaign says that two periods were determined in 1949 at the time of the Chinese Revolution. However, the truth was completely opposite.

When the Communist revolution in China was successful and Chairman Mao came to power, he did not impose any such restrictions. Chairman Mao was the leader of China continuously from the revolution until his death in 1976 and his popularity in the Communist Party also remained. When Deng Xiaoping was elected as the leader of China, he did so with the idea that there was no other leader as popular as Chairman Mao at that time. So, he imposed the ban on being elected for the third term. It was a correct decision for the time, which has now been changed due to circumstances and needs. However, it is not possible for a single person to control the decisions of the National Congress of the Communist Party.

The Communist Party has 96 million members, 70 per cent of whom are men. They elect their leadership from cities to the country level. The party's National Congress consists of 3,000 members, while the number of members of the Central Committee is 370. Then there is the Polit Bureau consisting of 25 members, and finally the most powerful body the Standing Committee consists of seven members.

Given this vast political structure, to assume that one will or can dominate it alone is not a correct analysis. For example, while President Xi has a lot of support, Wang Yang, Li Xi also have their own special importance. Chinese Premier Li is a very dynamic leader.

President Xi is very popular with the Chinese people for two reasons. And it is believed that the guidelines that the National Congress will give will keep these reasons in mind. Since coming to power, President Xi has dealt with corruption in an unforgiving manner. From the highest level whether they are politicians, judges, military and government officials or businessmen, no class has been left out of his actions. During this time, action was taken against four million people for the crime of corruption. He took care that economic development was not just about the money in the bank account of the rich, but that its fruits should reach the common poor people, so he used the economic achievements to eradicate poverty in China.

It is assumed that the 20th National Congress will further validate these measures and will set guidelines for the next five years.

The writer is a freelance contributor.