Seminars and Discussion Group

Constitutional Development Task Force
Focus Group
(25 June 2004)

Group Discussion Summaries
Group Facilitator : Mr Eddie Ng
(Translation)

Method for Selecting the Chief Executive

The Number of Members of the Election Committee

• Some participants considered that the number of members of the Election Committee should be doubled, or increase by five to ten times, or increase to 2 000 at least. This was to enable more members of the community to participate in the election of the Chief Executive, so as to enhance the legitimacy of the election, and to prevent the Election Committee from becoming easily susceptible to manipulation.

The Composition of the Election Committee

• Some participants considered that the Election Committee should comprise directly-elected members. A participant took the view that, apart from the existing 800 members representing the four sectors, the Election Committee should be enlarged to include a further 800 members to be returned by electors who were eligible to vote in the Legislative Council geographical constituency elections (or at least by all taxpayers).
  
  

• A participant opined that it was unnecessary to organise a separate election to return the Election Committee members.
  
  

• A participant expressed the view that electing the Chief Executive through indirect election would help maintain the stability of the election.

The Number of Members Required for Nominating Candidates

• Some participants agreed that the number of Election Committee members required to nominate a Chief Executive candidate should be reduced, or that a limit on the number should be imposed. This was to enable more people to have the opportunity to stand in the election and, at the same time, to make the general public feel that the election was genuine.
  
  

• One participant pointed out that, if the number of Election Committee members were increased, the number of members required to nominate a Chief Executive candidate could remain unchanged.
  
  

• One participant took the view that, if the number of Election Committee members required to nominate a Chief Executive candidate was to remain at 100, 80 of them should be drawn proportionately from the four existing sectors. The remaining 20 should come from the newly-added members to be returned through direct elections.
  
  

• One participant was of the view that the candidates should be nominated by Legislative Council Members. This would enhance the legitimacy of the Chief Executive, and would alleviate the problem of co-ordination between the executive authorities and the legislature.
  
  

• One participant considered that nominating members should comprise a proportional number of members from each of the four sectors, and a certain number of Legislative Council Members.

The Delineation and Size of the Electorate of the Election Committee

• Some participants were of the view that the size of the electorate should be increased.
  
  

• Some participants considered that, in order to enhance the legitimacy of the Election Committee, corporate votes should be replaced by individual votes. Amongst others, the number of individual votes for the labour sector and the social welfare sector should be increased.
  
  

• A participant opined that non-government organizations and charitable bodies should be included.

Others

• A participant was of the view that the Chief Executive should not have a lower legitimacy than the Legislative Council. However, another participant pointed out that, if the legitimacy of the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council were to increase concomitantly, two centres of authority would gradually emerge, which would lead to conflicts. Besides, consideration should also be given to the fact that the Central Authorities were determined to consolidating the executive-led system.
  
  

• A participant took the view that consideration could be given to a system of nomination by the general public, and then election by the Election Committee. This would enable more members of the community to participate in the selection process of the Chief Executive.

Method for Forming the Legislative Council

The Number of Seats in the Legislative Council

• Some participants agreed that the number of seats should be increased.
  
  

• A participant considered that a larger number of seats would help recruit and groom political talents.
  
  

• However, a participant took the view that the number of seats should dovetail with the future constitutional system.

The Number of Seats Returned by Geographical Constituencies

• A participant agreed that the number of seats returned by geographical constituencies through direct elections should be increased, for instance, by 10 (the number of functional constituency seats should also be increased by 10 correspondingly). This would enable the Government to gather more public views through the directly-elected Members.

The Number of Seats Returned by Functional Constituencies

• Some participants considered that the number of functional constituency seats should not be further increased, as this would contradict the ultimate aim of universal suffrage.
  
  

• Another participant supported an increase in the number of functional constituency seats, for instance, by 10 (the number of geographical constituency seats should also be increased by 10 correspondingly).
  
  

• A participant was of the view that if the number of functional constituencies were increased, this should be done with a view to increasing the size of the electorate. This could be achieved by including new sectors representing women and the youth respectively, or by adopting the previous method for delineating the "nine new functional constituencies" before reunification.

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

• Some participants supported a gradual replacement of corporate votes by individual votes. This would be in line with the principle of equality, and could also form the basis of transition to universal suffrage. For example, if the members (more than 200 000) of the labour organizations were each given an individual vote, the size of the electorate could then be much increased.
  
  

• A participant proposed that, while functional constituency candidates should come from the functional constituencies, the size of the electorate could be further increased.
  
  

• A participant considered that, in order to ensure equal participation, an elector should be asked to opt to vote in either the functional constituency election or the geographical constituency election.
  
  

• A participant opined that different professions or sectors should not be forcibly subsumed into one single functional constituency, as was the case of the Sports, Performing Arts, Culture and Publication Functional Constituency.
  
  

• A participant proposed that non-government organizations and charitable bodies should be included as functional constituencies.

Provisions regarding Nationality of Legislative Council Members

• A participant pointed out that the existing requirement was in line with the Basic Law. There was no need for change.

Others

• A participant pointed out that, under the present system, Legislative Council Members only represented the interests of individual groups or sectors, and lacked wide vision. However, another participant was of the view that it was natural for different interest groups to be involved in elections.
  
  

• A participant considered that the six Legislative Council Members returned by the Election Committee had a wider vision because the Election Committee electorate came from different sectors and strata.
  
  

• A participant pointed out that the reason why Legislative Council had become short of hands was that some Members were not professional enough. Another participant considered that the job of a Legislative Council Member should be made full-time, and that they should be given more support to handle their work.

Other Views

Universal Suffrage

• A participant said that he did not understand what type of "universal suffrage" was being referred to. Thus, it was very difficult for him to conceive the electoral systems to be adopted during the transitional period.
  
  

• A participant pointed out that to many young people, "universal suffrage" was only a slogan. They did not understand the real meaning of the term.
  
  

• A participant was of the view that conditions were not yet ripe for introducing "universal suffrage". Moreover, Hong Kong lacked political talents. However, most participants agreed that Hong Kong's constitutional development should progress towards the ultimate aim of universal suffrage.

The Functions of the Election Committee

• A participant considered that the functions of the existing Election Committee, which had been restricted to the election of the Chief Executive, were too limited. Moreover, there was inadequate channel for the Election Committee members and their electorate to reflect their views. It was proposed that the Government should make more use of the Election Committee to help implement Government policies.

The "Cabinet"

• A participant considered that, with the existing accountability system, embarrassing situation could arise when a Chief Executive candidate tried to form his own "cabinet".

Political Parties and the Grooming of Political Talents

• Some participants was of the view that political parties would help to groom political talents.
  
  

• A participant opined that the Government should allow more talents from the political parties and the community to enter the establishment.
  
  

• A participant took the view that, in order to dovetail with constitutional development, a political party law should be made.
  
  

• A participant considered that political talents had to be groomed in the Legislative Council.

Timetable for Constitutional Development

• Some participants expressed their wish for a timetable for constitutional development, so that the public could envisage a democratic future.

Arguments

• A participant considered that the present arguments were meaningless. We should work towards maintaining the economic prosperity of Hong Kong.

Democracy

• A participant took the view that the realization of "democracy" would facilitate a smooth transition when there was a change of government. However, the process would inevitably involve vested interests.

District Councils

• A participant was of the view that, since there was no local government in Hong Kong, the District Councils did not enjoy substantive powers and were overly fragmented. This led to their declining representativeness. It was suggested that improvements in the context of the entire political structure should be contemplated, for example by amalgamating certain District Councils.

Non-Government Organizations

A participant considered that non-government organizations and charitable bodies were less political, and were thus a source of stabilizing force in the community. To achieve effective governance, there should be cooperation among the three parties concerned - namely, the Government, the commercial sector and the non-government organizations.