Sj Desk
On Monday, China is expected to take a decision on whether to postpone its annual parliament session for the first time since the Cultural Revolution amid coronavirus outbreak.
Every year, the important gathering is attended by top Communist Party leaders including President Xi Jinping. However, with most of the country battling a deadly epidemic that had halted the entire nation, the parliament session seems unlikely.
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Till date, the novel virus has claimed the lives of more than 2,500 and infected over 80,000 people in the mainland.
Many officials who would normally attend the annual meeting are preoccupied with fighting the crises in their home regions. Moreover, the leader's arriving in face masks and precautionary wear in an event that presents the vision of a Communist Party in perfect control of the nation won't exactly project the desired image.
The National People’s Congress' Standing Committee is scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss whether to delay the session, which was due to start on March 5.
Ling Li, a lecturer on Chinese politics at the University of Vienna, said the postponement was “very likely”.
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“If the situation is not significantly improved by Monday, then a decision not to postpone the NPC conference would be unreasonable and signal a desperate effort of the authorities to keep up the appearance of political normality, which is not there,” she said.
The whole parliament session, which is used to portray the government as answerable to the people’s representatives, is in reality choreographed and the discussions are predetermined well in advance by the Communist Party. Nevertheless, the gathering generates global interest.
