Who votes and what does “seven up and eight down” mean
Yesterday Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is also the secretary of the Communist Party of the country, opened the 20th Party Congress with a speech.
1) How long will it last?
The XX Congress of the Chinese Communist Party will close on Saturday 22 October. A week of work, as usual. The exceptionality is in the confirmation for the third time of the secretary general: Xi Jinping. The 2,296 delegates are called to debate the motions, including one that will reform the Constitution of Zhongguo gongchan dang (the CCP) to insert new extracts from Xi’s Thought. The formula “shared prosperity” could appear, which promises to better redistribute national income and tighten the room for maneuver of private enterprise.
2) Will there be votes?
There are about 370 seats on the Central Committee and 25 on the Political Bureau at stake. The delegates already know what has been decided in recent months behind the scenes by the small group that leads the Party. There could perhaps be some surprises, recognizable only by high-ranking adepts, in the plank of the Central Committee (in 1997 Xi risked being excluded and was rescued with maneuvers by the elders who esteemed him). Today the games are directed by Xi.
3) Is there a registry rule?
The unwritten rule is called qishang baxia, which means “seven up, eight down”. Among the approximately 370 members of the Central Committee and 25 of the Politburo (including the magnificent 7 of the Politburo Standing Committee which includes Xi), those who are 67 or younger at the time of Congress can remain in office, those who have reached or exceeded 68 leave Zhongnanhai, the citadel of power in the ancient gardens of the Forbidden City.
4) When will we know the result?
The first Plenum of the new Central Committee will be held on Sunday 23 October. Then Xi will lead his new Politburo Standing Committee on a red carpet runway. In the invitation for the ceremony in the Great Hall of the People of Tiananmen Square it is written: “The Secretary General and the Political Bureau meet the press.” But no questions will be allowed. Observers will only be able to take note of who left and who entered the Politburo, positions in the formal hierarchy, and try to predict China’s future for the next five years.
October 16, 2022 (change October 16, 2022 | 22:06)
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