China parliament okays Jiang's last resignation
BEIJING, Tuesday (Reuters) - China's former Communist
Party chief and president, Jiang Zemin, ceded his last official post on
Tuesday as parliament prepared to hand the final, if only ceremonial,
lever of power to his successor Hu Jintao.
Parliament approved Jiang's resignation as chief of the
symbolic state Central Military Commission in a near unanimous vote, the
final step in a historic leadership transition that started in November
2002 with his retirement as party chief.
Hu, due to be named state military chief by parliament
on Saturday, will finally hold all the top positions as head of the
party, military and state.
Jiang, 78, was widely expected to see his influence
diminish, although he should retain some clout having stacked the party
leadership with allies and proteges while engineering the first orderly
transfer of power in Chinese Communist history.
Jiang, who in his near 16-year reign was known to enjoy
basking in the limelight, made no appearance as parliament delegates
cast their votes at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Following his surprise retirement as party military
chief in September, Tuesday's vote was seen as a mere formality with
2,853 votes for, eight against and five abstentions. Political sources
said last year that age and ill health had caught up with Jiang. |
