New Politburo pecking order reveals changes
Change in party hierarchy that was introduced when Li Peng was No 2 has been dropped
The pecking order of the Communist Party's supreme Politburo Standing Committee unveiled yesterday reflects three changes and gives the next premier greater authority.
The position of premier in the Politburo Standing Committee hierarchy returns to No 2 in the new line-up, going back to an old practice dropped 15 years ago.
When the new generation of leaders was unveiled to the assembled press, Li Keqiang, poised to take over from Wen Jiabao as premier in March, walked onto the stage right after Xi Jinping, the party's new general secretary.
After Li came Zhang Dejiang, who will take over as chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC).
The positioning harks back to the 14th party congress, in 1992, when Li Peng, then premier, was ranked No 2 in the Politburo Standing Committee, right after then-general secretary Jiang Zemin.
However, at the next congress in 1997, Zhu Rongji , who would take over as premier in several months, was ranked third in the Politburo Standing Committee. The second spot still went to Li, who was poised to step down from the premiership and become NPC chairman. This arrangement reflected Li's seniority. He had been on the Politburo Standing Committee for two terms, while Zhu had just been made a member.
Zhu's successor, Wen, also ranked third, with second spot going to NPC chairman Wu Bangguo .
