Bo Xilai, once a rising star of Chinese politics, was stripped of parliamentary status on Saturday, paving the way to his criminal persecution, the country’s media said on Saturday.

Bo represented the city of Chongqing on the National People's Congress, China’s legislature, but city legislators who earlier nominated him now voted to remove him from office, robbing him of lawmaker’s immunity.

Bo, 63, was expelled from the Communist Party of China on Friday on accusations of abuse of authority, graft and “mistaken staff decisions.” A criminal case about him was pending to be opened, though no formal charges were voiced so far.

Bo, a Politburo member from 2007 to 2012, made a name for himself through left-wing populism politics and personal charisma, a rarity on the Chinese political scene.

He was expected to become one of the nine members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the country’s supreme governing body which is set to undergo a massive rotation in November due to seven members reaching retirement age.

However, Bo’s career was unraveled by the case against his wife Gu Kailai, who was convicted in August of poisoning a British businessman, an incident that Bo is accused of trying to cover up.

Following the scandal, Bo was removed from all posts, his downfall dividing the Chinese society and reportedly upsetting the balance of factions in the Politburo ahead of the reshuffle.