The Fifth Report

The Fourth Report of the Constitutional Development Task Force
Regional Forum (Kowloon)
(23 March 2005)

Discussion Summaries of Group 1
Group Facilitator: Mr CHENG Kam-chung

(Translation)

Method for Selecting the Chief Executive

The Number of Members of the Election Committee

• The majority of participants agreed that the number of Election Committee members should be doubled to 1600. This would allow more people to participate in the Committee and make the views represented by the Committee more balanced.

• A participant hoped that universal suffrage would be implemented as soon as possible. However, a participant considered that the existing system should first be improved before implementing universal suffrage.

The Composition of the Election Committee

• The majority of participants supported including more people from different sectors of the community, particularly middle-class personalities and representatives of district organizations (e.g. owners' corporations, mutual-aid committees and kaifong associations, etc.)

• While the majority of participants agreed to include more District Council members, they had no consensus on the number to be increased. A participant considered that appointed District Council members should not be included because this would be inconsistent with the ultimate aim of universal suffrage.

The Number of Members Required for Nominating Candidates

• The majority of participants were of the view that the number of subscribers required should be in the range of one-tenth to one-eighth of total membership of the Election Committee. This could enhance representativeness and encourage more candidates to run for the election. A participant was of the view that the existing requirement of 100 subscribers should be maintained as it was an appropriate number.

• A participant opined that an upper limit should be set to avoid a candidate securing an excessive number of nominations, which would make the election uncontested. A participant, however, considered an upper limit unnecessary.

• Participants held diverse views on whether a candidate should be required to obtain nominations from all four sectors. A participant was of the view that such requirement should not be necessary because each sector was sufficiently representative. Another participant considered that a candidate's representativeness could be enhanced if he/she was able to secure a certain amount of support from each of the four sectors.

The Delineation and Size of the Electorate of the Election Committee

• The majority of participants supported replacing corporate voting with individual voting because organizations might not fully represent their members. A participant objected to this proposal because premature implementation of individual voting would not be consistent with the principle of gradual and orderly progress, and might give rise to other problems.

• A participant considered that corporate voters should discuss with, and obtain the consent of, the board of directors or executives of the organizations which they represented before casting their votes.

Method for Forming the Legislative Council

The Number of Seats in the Legislative Council

• The majority of participants objected to increasing the number of seats because functional constituencies and proportional representation system were both not consistent with the principle of universal suffrage. In addition, any increase in the number of seats would undermine the efficiency of the Legislative Council. Also, they would not want to see the seats returned by geographical constituencies and functional constituencies increased by the ratio of 1:1.

The Number of Seats returned by Geographical Constituencies

• Participants agreed that there was no need to increase the number of seats returned by geographical constituencies, but if necessary, the seats should be increased in proportion to population.

The Number of Seats returned by Functional Constituencies

• Participants took the view that the number of seats returned by functional constituencies should not be increased as this would not be consistent with the ultimate aim of universal suffrage.

The Delineation and Size of the Electorate of Legislative Council Functional Constituencies

• A participant proposed to review whether new constituencies should be added, or whether some existing constituencies should be split or merged, so as to include some emerging trades and businesses.

• A participant proposed to abolish constituencies which with relatively small electorate.

• A participant suggested including employees in the insurance constituencies to broaden the electorate base.

• A participant suggested adding seats for grassroot representatives e.g. estates management.

Provisions regarding Nationality of Legislative Council Members

• The majority of participants supported maintaining the existing arrangement as this was provided for in the Basic Law. Also, Hong Kong was an international city; the requirement could help attract people who aspired to serve Hong Kong.