BEIJING — A group of Chinese leftists has issued a public letter calling on the country's largely rubber stamp parliament not to expel disgraced former top leader Bo Xilai from its ranks, saying the move is legally questionable and politically motivated. Stripping membership from Bo - the one-time Communist Party chief of Chongqing who is accused of abusing power, taking huge bribes and other crimes - also removes his immunity from prosecution, and paves the way for formal charges against him. Bo's ouster has exposed deep rifts in the party between his leftist backers, who are nostalgic for the revolutionary era of Mao Zedong, and reformers, who advocate for faster political and economic reforms. The letter, carried on the far-left Chinese-language website “Red China” and addressed to the parliament's standing committee, says the party is fueling doubts about the accusations against Bo by refusing to discuss them publicly. “What is the reason provided for expelling Bo Xilai? Please investigate the facts and the evidence,” says the letter. “Please announce to the people evidence that Bo Xilai will be able to defend himself in accordance with the law.” Parliament and its members are there to provide oversight and make laws, not to “act as a rubber stamp” for attacks on people for personal reasons by political factions, it added. Since Bo was ousted in March, he has not been seen in public and has not been allowed to answer the accusations against him. At a news conference days before his removal, Bo rejected as “filth” and “nonsense” the then unspecified allegations against him and his family. The once high-flying Bo now faces a criminal investigation that stems from the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood in Chongqing last year. Bo will almost certainly be jailed, following the imprisonment of Bo's wife Gu Kailai and his former police chief Wang Lijun. — Reuters
