Dictatorship’s Most Vital Weakness is Exposed on the World Stage Amid China Leadership Succession

Democracy, elections and voting at Democracy Chronicles

Bo downfall a test for China political system: analysts

AFP – The purge of Bo Xilai and arrest of his wife for suspected murder have rocked China, and how leaders deal with the case may prove to be a crucial test for the country’s political system, analysts say. The state Xinhua news agency said Tuesday that Bo — once tipped to access the top echelons of power.

China’s biggest political crisis in decades took a dramatic turn with the removal of one of the Communist Party’s biggest stars from his post and his wife’s arrest on suspicion of murder. Bo Xilai, the charismatic former party leader of Chongqing city, had been tipped for the very highest echelons.

Chinese shares linked to the southwest municipality of Chongqing dropped on Wednesday after the city’s former head was stripped of his Communist Party post and his wife arrested in a murder probe. The government removed politician Bo Xilai from his role as Chongqing party secretary on March 15.