China's new leader Xi Jinping looked relaxed talking animatedly to premier-designate Li Keqiang on a giant dais as 2,956 legislators went about casting votes to choose a new president. The 'election' ended with Xi being declared the next president with just one vote going against him.
The event, which included election for the vice president and scores of parliamentary posts, was marked by a significant relaxation in the Communist Party's controls. Even Li Yuanchao, the new vice-president, attracted 80 negative votes in what seemed like a show of democracy.
As the results came in, outgoing president Hu Jintao shook hands with Xi, marking a major change in the country's leadership. For the first time, China will be largely led by 'princelings', sons of leaders who walked the dust and the red carpet with Mao Zedong. The new president is the son of Xi Zhongxun, a former vice premier and one of the founders of the Communist guerrilla movement in Shaanxi. Unlike India, there are no complaints about 'dynastic rule' in China although four of the seven positions in the all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party are held by younger relatives of party veterans.
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