I’m interested in what they mean by a “rubber stamp parliament”.
They say:
[quote[China’s rubber-stamp parliament, dominated by the Communist Party which has monopolized politics since 1949, is expected to unanimously pass the bill on March 14.[/quote]
Sorry, I screwed up the quote thing and didn’t preview.
A rubber stamp Parliament - or any official body - is one that automatically passes or approves everything that the the real ruling powers desire.
From the Online Etymology Dictionary:
Presumably the origin is from the image of a clerk using a rubber stamp to mark a document Approved or something similar.
A “rubber stamp” government body is one where decisions or legislation from another source are simply approved automatically with little or no real debate. The name comes from the image of a beauracrat being handed a stack of papers from another authority and mindlessly “stamping” them to make it official. I believe that the article is saying that the real authority comes straight from the Communist Party itself and Parliment simply passes whatever it says.
If you “rubber stamp” a document, it means that you approve it quickly, without giving the subject much thought.
The article is implying that the parliment will do whatever the leaders of the Communist Party tell it to do.
It means the legislators (I know several up there right now) have no power. They simply vote for what they’ve been told to vote for. In other words, it’s not a check on the executive, just a formality - hence ‘rubber stamp’.
They are not popularly elected, either, of course. They are appointed by Beijing via regional electoral bodies who also vote for whatever they’re told to vote for. More rubber stamps!
Wow! Four answers to one question!