Xi Prez for life? China may okay proposal to scrap presidential term limits

National People's Congress to vote on scrapping term limit, fill top posts with president's allies

President Xi Jinping is counting on a gathering of nearly 3,000 lawmakers to show unequivocal support for his bid to govern China indefinitely by setting aside a decades-old safeguard against despotic rule.

The annual legislative session, which starts Monday, is set to approve a proposal to scrap presidential term limits. But anything less than a near-unanimous vote at the National People’s Congress could signal disquiet within the Chinese establishment and embolden critics of Mr. Xi in a country scarred by the disastrous policies of Mao Zedong.

Mr. Xi has steadily dismantled the model of collective leadership that started taking shape in the