The top national legislature of China will soon be able to appoint and dismiss members of the State Council even when it is not in session, which will further consolidate the power of President Xi Jinping, media reports say.

China’s legislative body, the National People’s Congress, would take the “important measure” of perfecting the law on the internal organization of the top levels of government, NPC Standing Committee vice chair Wang Chen said last Friday.

“The NPC as well as its Standing Committee will commit to the leadership of China’s Communist Party … to ensure the correct political direction for [the legislature],” Wang said during the opening of the annual parliamentary session.

To achieve that goal, legal amendments under consideration reportedly include provisions on the power to appoint and dismiss senior government figures, to “ensure the orderly functioning of national-level organizations.”

The planned powers will allow the NPCSC to make changes to State Council personnel based on the nomination of the premier, and to personnel of the Central Military Commission based on the nomination of its chairperson. Such moves can be made even when the NPC is not in session, the draft legislation shows.

This would be the first time in over 30 years that the law governing China’s top leadership was being revised, veteran political commentator Sang Pu said.

Once the amendment bill was passed, the NPCSC would have the authority to dismiss the vice premier, state councilors, as well as top-ranking CMC members, he said.

The amendment was part of Xi’s plan to eliminate members of rival factions and quash potential opposition, he added. In particular, this might affect vice premiers such as Hu Chunhua and Han Zheng, neither of whom was considered to be part of Xi’s inner circle.

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