Exclusive: Ferrari crash scandal cover-up may force out Hu ally, Ling Jihua

The ruling Communist Party is set to make the election of its elite Central Committee more competitive, which may cast further doubt over the political futures of several controversial candidates, including Ling Jihua, outgoing President Hu Jintao's former chief of staff, sources said.

Nine per cent of the nominees are expected to be eliminated during the primary elections for full membership when the congress Presidium announces the exact margin today, the sources familiar with the party's inner-workings said.

According to delegate Han Guiqing , president of the Agricultural Science Institute in Heilongjiang province, who was speaking on the sidelines of the party congress, 19 candidates were eliminated in the primary elections yesterday. The current Central Committee has 204 full members and 163 alternate members.

Competitive voting margins for the Central Committee at the previous two party congresses were 8.3 per cent in 2007 and a little over 5 per cent in 2002.

The 247-member Presidium will review the results of the primary elections and decide the candidates who will enter the formal vote tomorrow at the concluding session of the congress.

The sources said Ling, once one of China's most powerful men, was in danger of being edged out because of dissatisfaction among more than 2,200 party delegates about the alleged cover-up of a Ferrari crash that killed his son on Beijing's North Fourth Ring Road and seriously injured two young women. Although the accident occurred in March, the news emerged only in September. Despite persistent rumours Beijing has swept the scandal under the carpet, ignoring calls for an inquiry into Ling's role in the incident and its subsequent cover-up.

This is largely for fear of its potentially damaging impact on the once-in-a-decade leadership succession, especially in the wake of the downfall of ex-Politburo member Bo Xilai .