Investor Presentaiton
35
Why does the reconstituted Election Committee exclude
district councillors who are elected by the public through
direct elections?
District Councils are not organs of political power as stipulated in Article 97 of
the Basic Law. They should tender advice to the Government on district
administration, including provision of services in such fields as culture, recreation and
environmental sanitation, and work for the well-being of all the residents in the district.
It is however apparent in recent years that District Councils have become
politics-driven platforms and been turned into anti-China and anti-government
bridgeheads hampering the governance of the HKSAR. District Council elections
I have bred politicisation and extremism, and as a result these district organisations
have deviated from their original non-political nature and status, and are on the verge of
breaking down, causing public grievances. If District Councillors are given certain seats
in the Election Committee and the LegCo, the loopholes in the electoral system will
continue to exist.
The amended Annex I to the Basic Law by the Standing Committee of the NPC
adds grassroots associations (60 seats) and clansmen associations (60 seats),
representatives of committees which are genuinely concerned about local affairs
in Hong Kong and Kowloon (76 seats) and in the New Territories (80 seats).
In so doing, the Election Committee will have a broader representation and accord
with the actual situation of Hong Kong, and can better attend to the overall interests
of the Hong Kong society.
Individual electors of the professional subsectors of the
reconstituted Election Committee will be replaced by eligible
bodies, resulting in a substantial shrinkage of electorate of
the professional sectors. Nevertheless, individuals remain
the electorates of professional functional constituencies of the
LegCo. What are the justifications of the differential treatment?
The Members of the ten subsectors under the professional sector of the Election
Committee, be they ex-officio Members, nominated Members or elected Members,
are all person-in-charge or representatives of organisations which are closely
associated with and representative of the respective profession. It not only gives
due regard to the actual situation of Hong Kong under which these statutory bodies,
organisations and committees have been established for years, but also meets the
requirement of a broadly representative Election Committee.
As regards the professional functional constituencies in the LegCo, we respect that
their electorates have all along been the eligible electors who have professional
registration status, hence the retention of the feature.
In fact, the core change in the improvement to the electoral system this time round is
the Election Committee's size, composition, function and formation method. The changes
to the functional constituencies in the LegCo are relatively minor.
34
4View entire presentation