Seminars and Discussion Group

Constitutional Development Task Force
Focus Group
(23 August 2004)

Group Discussion Summaries
Yellow Group: Professor Thomas Wong

(Translation)

Method for Selecting the Chief Executive

The Number of Members of the Election Committee

• A participant suggested the number of members of the Election Committee be increased in order to enhance legitimacy, and to make the election less susceptible to manipulation.
  
  

• A participant was of the view that no matter how the number of members of the Election Committee was to be increased, the problem of legitimacy could not be resolved because the increase lacked scientific justification.

The Composition of the Election Committee

• A participant took the view that the subsectors should be broadened as the existing composition could not reflect reality.
  
  

• A participant proposed to add to the Election Committee a number of voters randomly selected from the Register of Electors to enhance legitimacy and to expand public participation in a gradual and orderly manner.

The Number of Members Required for Nominating Candidates

• A participant commented that, given that there were only 800 members in the Election Committee, the requirement of 100 subscribers for nomination was stringent.
  
  

• A participant was of the view that the existing requirement of 100 subscribers was too high. He suggested that consideration be given to lowering the requirement to allow more people to run for the election.
  
  

• A participant suggested that the number of subscribers required for nomination be 2% - 3% of the total number of the members of the Election Committee.
  
  

• A participant was of the view that there should be an upper limit on the required number of subscribers. This would avoid the scenario of a candidate obtaining the support of a large number of subscribers, resulting in a single candidature for the election. He proposed that the upper limit could be 10% of the total number of the members of the Election Committee.

The Delineation and Size of the Electorate of the Election Committee

• A participant proposed to expand the size of electorate to about 1 million, which would be comparable to the number of taxpayers.

Others

• A participant considered that the legitimacy of the Election Committee would inevitably be questioned because when the Election Committee was formed, there were still no Chief Executive election candidates.
  
  

• A participant considered that the votes cast by members of the Election Committee had no correlation to the wishes of their electors. Therefore, he proposed setting up a mechanism requiring members of the Election Committee to cast their votes according to the wishes of their electors.
  
  

• A participant was of the opinion that support for the Chief Executive was not adequate because he was not affiliated to any political party. This caused difficulties in his governance.

Method for Forming the Legislative Council

The Number of Seats in the Legislative Council

• Some participants agreed that, given the population size of Hong Kong, a 60-seat Legislative Council was sufficient. Moreover, an increase in the number of seats in Legislative Council would increase the financial burden of the Government.

The Number of Seats Returned by Geographical Constituencies

• A participant considered that the number of seats should be allocated in proportion to population size.
  
  

• A participant suggested that a seat be allocated to the Islands District. Residents in the Islands District felt that they were not represented because they were currently placed under the New Territories West constituency. A participant disagreed, saying that each island had its own culture. Even if there were one seat for the Islands District, it could not take care of the needs of different islands.

The Number of Seats Returned by Functional Constituencies

• Many participants agreed that functional constituencies should not be expanded. Any increase would arouse disputes on which constituencies should be added because it involved different interests and because the delineation of some sectors was not easy. Some participants considered that, as functional constituencies were a transitional arrangement, no significant changes should be made in order not to complicate the issue. Moreover, the number of seats returned by functional constituencies should be reduced gradually.
  
  

• A participant objected to increasing the number of Legislative Council Members returned by District Council members to avoid confusion between the roles of the two Councils.

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

• A participant proposed changing the system so that employees would be given voting right in functional constituencies. This was because employers did not consult their employees before casting their votes. Moreover, it was not a fair system if only employers had the right to vote.

Provisions regarding Nationality of Legislative Council Members

• A participant took the view that as Hong Kong was an international city, the relevant provisions should be slightly relaxed in order to attract talents.
  
  

• A participant considered that the number of seats open to foreign passport holders should be reduced in order to demonstrate Members' commitment to Hong Kong.
  
  

• A participant proposed allowing candidates to renounce their foreign nationalities after being elected in order to attract more talents to contribute to Hong Kong.

Others

• Many participants agreed that, in the long run, functional constituencies should be abolished. However, they agreed that functional constituencies was a desirable arrangement in the transition towards universal suffrage.
  
  

• A participant was of the view that the public could be educated through functional constituencies to learn more about universal suffrage. It would also facilitate the grooming of political talents.
  
  

• A participant considered that functional constituencies could help balance the effort of "emotive voting".
  
  

• A participant suggested that all Legislative Council Members should be full-time. Otherwise, they could hardly handle the work of the Legislative Council.

Other Views

• A participant remarked that "one person two vote" was inherently unfair.
  
  

• A participant pointed out that there were many models of "one person one vote". Hong Kong people should be consulted on the preferred system.
  
  

• Some participants were of the view that at present, Hong Kong lacked political education and this has led to an inadequate supply of political talents.
  
  

• A participant considered that political talents could be groomed only if there was a democratic system.
  
  

• A participant proposed setting out a timetable so that the public could see the future of constitutional development.
  
  

• A participant proposed following the example of other countries where all permanent residents were registered as voters automatically.
  
  

• A participant was of the view that when discussing with the public, the Government should review, in addition to the issue of universal suffrage, whether there were other related issues that needed to be comprehensively reviewed, for example, whether the election results of the Legislative Council should be taken into account in reviewing constitutional development, the relationship between the executive and legislature, and whether candidates who were running for the post of the Chief Executive should announce the names of his team of prospective Principal Officials during election, etc.