The Fifth Report

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

Discussion Summaries of Group 6
Group Facilitator: Mr YU Che-fan

(Translation)

Method for Selecting the Chief Executive

The Number of Members of the Election Committee

• Participants supported an increase to 1600 members because this was a more reasonable size.

The Composition of the Election Committee

• Participants hoped that the composition of the Election Committee could as far as possible take account of the interests of different sectors of the community, including different genders, occupations, races, etc. This could make the Committee more representative.

• Participants considered that there was no need to change the existing four sectors, but hoped that new subsectors could be introduced. A participant suggested introducing a new subsector for women, while one suggested a new subsector for representatives of owners' corporations.

• Participants proposed to consider increasing the number of members of each subsector. However, participants noted that the electorate size of different subsectors was different. The number of members for the subsectors should be adjusted according to the size of their respective electorate.

The Number of Members Required for Nominating Candidates

• Participants agreed that the number of subscribers required should be maintained at one-eighth of the total membership. In other words, if the Election Committee comprised 1 600 members, the threshold would be 200 subscribers. Participants also agreed that candidates should not be required to secure support from all four sectors.

• Participants did not agree to setting an upper limit for nomination. The reason was that it was not necessary to restrict the number of nominations a popular candidate could obtain.

The Delineation and Size of the Electorate of the Election Committee

• Participants agreed in principle that the electorate size of the Election Committee should be enlarged.

Others

• Participants agreed that in the 2007 Chief Executive election, if the elected candidate had political affiliation, he should leave his political party to ensure political neutrality.

Method for Forming the Legislative Council

The Number of Seats in the Legislative Council

• Participants objected to increasing the number of seats. Some participants considered that any increase in the number of seats would only be a waste of public money.

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

• Participants suggested enlarging the electorate size of functional constituencies.

• Some participants proposed to review the current composition of functional constituencies. Through restructuring, merging or splitting, subsectors of the Election Committee which had not yet been represented in the Legislative Council should be added. Moreover, new constituencies for women, ethnic minorities, etc, could be considered.

Provisions regarding Nationality of Legislative Council Members

• Participants agreed to maintain the existing provision. Electors should be allowed to decide on whether a candidate who was of non-Chinese nationalities was capable of serving as a Legislative Council Member.