It used to be the case that the CCP was decentralised: the regions had their own parties that were not ideologically answerable to the central party. Then, popular unrest could lead to the leader losing support of the regions, which could lead to the leader being deposed. Mao liked it this way, because his popularity in the regions strengthened him against his enemies in the central party.

I don't really follow the minutia of today's politics in China, but my impression is that Xi has taken away power from the regions. If so, then this former route for change may have been blocked.