2月19日早间英语播报：Postponement of two sessions proposed

File photo: the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. [Photo/IC]

Many legislators, political advisers busy fighting on front lines of virus outbreak

Two sessions, the country's biggest annual political event, may be postponed this year, as more focused efforts are needed at the moment to fight the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The term two sessions refers to the annual plenary sessions of the National People's Congress, the nation's top legislature, and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the top political advisory body.

Customarily, the CPPCC National Committee starts its annual gathering on March 3, and the NPC on March 5. About 3,000 national legislators and around 2,200 national political advisers travel to Beijing for the two sessions to review work reports of the central government, top judicial authorities, the annual budget, and to bring voices from the grassroots and different social sectors to the central leadership.

However, since the recent outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia, the Communist Party of China Central Committee with Xi Jinping at the core has made clear its instructions that epidemic prevention and control work should be the most important task for the moment, and there has been positive progress.

As it is now a crucial time in curbing the spread of the virus, and many national legislators are fighting the epidemic at the front line, NPC leaders, after careful deliberation, consider it necessary to delay this year's plenary meeting, Zang Tiewei, a spokesman for the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee, said on Monday.

At a chairpersons' meeting of the NPC Standing Committee on Monday in Beijing, they suggested the upcoming session of the NPC Standing Committee, scheduled to begin on Monday, consider a draft proposal to postpone the third plenary session of the 13th NPC, according to a Xinhua News Agency report.

A draft decision on cracking down on the illegal wildlife trade and eliminating the bad habit of eating wild animals to guarantee people's lives, health and safety will also be discussed by NPC Standing Committee members late this month.

On Monday, chairpersons of the top political advisory body also met to discuss matters related to postponing the third session of the 13th CPPCC National Committee, Xinhua reported.

Saying the prevention and control work is still at a critical stage that allows no laxity in efforts, the meeting stressed the participation of political advisory bodies and advisers at all levels to win the battle.

China's Constitution and related laws stipulate that the NPC convenes a plenary meeting every year and the NPC Standing Committee is responsible for deciding details of the plenary session.

At its previous bimonthly session, the NPC Standing Committee had decided on Dec 28 that the third plenary session of the 13th NPC would start on March 5, 2020. So if the session is to be delayed, the change needs to be approved at the next gathering of the NPC Standing Committee, Zang said.

Records show that the beginning of the NPC plenary session has not always been on March 5. The first plenary meeting of the first NPC was held in September 1954, and its second plenary session opened in July of the next year.

It was not until 1998, when the Ninth NPC held its first plenary session, that the opening date was customarily changed to March 5.

Fu Yuhang, an NPC deputy from Sichuan province, said on Monday that she supported the plan to postpone this year's two sessions, considering it a move based on truth and reality.

"The proposal to delay the meetings not only upholds the principle that people's health and safety goes first, but also meets the practical demand of disease control work," she said.

Apart from more than 5,000 national legislators and political advisers, the annual two sessions also attract about 3,000 reporters from home and abroad, as well as other working staff members.

Zhang Yi contributed to this story.

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记者：朱喆，曹音

播报：Corrie John Atholl Knight

原文链接：

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202002/18/WS5e4ae840a3101282172782e2.html

【阅读背景】

全国人大常委会会议将审议关于推迟召开十三届全国人大三次会议的决定草案

新华社北京2月17日电（记者杨维汉、陈菲）记者17日从在京举行的十三届全国人大常委会第四十七次委员长会议上获悉，2月下旬召开的全国人大常委会会议将审议关于推迟召开第十三届全国人民代表大会第三次会议的决定草案。

　　委员长会议提出这一议程有何考虑？对此，全国人大常委会法工委发言人臧铁伟在接受新华社记者专访时介绍，2019年12月28日，十三届全国人大常委会第十五次会议决定，第十三届全国人民代表大会第三次会议于2020年3月5日在北京召开。按照这一决定，全国人大常委会已为大会的召开进行了一系列筹备准备工作。

　　近期以来，湖北省武汉等地陆续发生新型冠状病毒感染肺炎的疫情。以习近平同志为核心的党中央高度重视，作出全面部署，提出明确要求，强调把疫情防控工作作为当前最重要的工作来抓，紧紧依靠人民群众，坚决打赢疫情防控阻击战。目前，疫情防控工作正在取得积极成效。

　　当前遏制疫情蔓延、打赢疫情防控阻击战处于关键时期，必须集中力量、全力以赴。全国人大代表近3000人，其中很多代表包括代表中三分之一的省市级和各方面的主要领导干部都奋战在疫情防控工作第一线，正在各自工作岗位发挥重要作用。为了确保聚精会神做好疫情防控工作，坚持把人民群众生命安全和身体健康放在第一位，委员长会议经认真评估，认为有必要适当推迟召开十三届全国人大三次会议。

　　我国宪法和有关法律规定：全国人民代表大会会议每年举行一次，全国人民代表大会会议由全国人民代表大会常务委员会召集。之前，全国人大常委会已确定十三届全国人大三次会议的召开时间，因此，推迟召开会议，也需要全国人大常委会作出决定。

　　基于上述考虑，常委会工作机构拟订了关于推迟召开十三届全国人大三次会议的决定草案。17日召开的委员长会议决定，十三届全国人大常委会第十六次会议2月24日在北京举行，其中一项议程是审议委员长会议关于提请审议《全国人民代表大会常务委员会关于推迟召开第十三届全国人民代表大会第三次会议的决定（草案）》。同时，全国人大常委会正在为积极修改与疫情防控相关的法律做好各项准备工作。

中文来源：新华网

中文链接：

https://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2020-02/17/c_1125586691.htm