Seminars and Discussion Group

Seminar on Constitutional Development
(11 June 2004)

Group Discussion Summaries
Green Group: Professor K C Chan

(Translation)

Method for Selecting the Chief Executive

The Number of Members of the Election Committee

• The majority of participants supported an increase in the number of Election Committee members. Some suggested increasing it to 1 200. There was also a suggestion to increase it to 3 000. Many participants, though, thought that the figure itself was not important.

• Participants generally agreed that it was more important to enhance the representativeness of the Election Committee.

• A participant concurred with a suggestion, raised at the last seminar, that the Election Committee might include a number of registered voters who were randomly selected.

The Composition of the Election Committee

• Many participants proposed to introduce a new sector on top of the existing four sectors, the members of which could be returned either by geographical election or by District Council members. This proposal involved fewer changes to the system, but could quickly expand the electoral base and enhance the representativeness of the Election Committee.

The Number of Members Required for Nominating Candidates

• A participant considered that there should not be any upper limit for the number of subscribers for a candidate.

• A participant proposed that candidates should be nominated by secret ballot.

The Delineation and Size of the Electorate of the Election Committee

• Some participants thought that there were too many corporate votes under the present system. They suggested increasing individual votes.

Others

• Some participants opined that the Chief Executive should be allowed to maintain his political affiliation. It would be conducive to the development of party politics if the Chief Executive had party background. Party politics was not something to be scared of, but instead a reasonable development in the institutionalization of politics.

• A participant suggested implementing a cabinet system. Candidates contesting for the office of the Chief Executive should make known to the public the full or partial list of his cabinet, so that the public would know his election platform and team.

Method for Forming the Legislative Council

The Number of Seats in the Legislative Council

• Many participants expressed the view that the number of seats should be increased. However, a participant pointed out that having too many Legislative Council Members might not necessarily be good as it might slow down the progress of work in the Council.

The Number of Seats Returned by Geographical Constituencies

• A participant suggested that the size of geographical constituencies for direct election should be reduced so that some of the constituencies could have more distinct local characters. However, there was a dissenting view that in doing so, political parties might focus too much on local politics instead of the long term interests of Hong Kong.

• A participant proposed that, in order to attract more personalities with territory-wide recognition to participate in politics, direct election without geographical delineation should be considered.

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

• Many participants raised the point that the delineation of functional constituencies should be scientific. It should reflect the current economic situation and the principle of balanced participation.

• Some participants thought that the current election method for functional constituencies was slanted towards members of corporations or chambers of commerce. This was unfair and adversely affected the legitimacy of functional constituencies. Hence, the electorates of functional constituencies should be suitably expanded.

Provisions regarding Nationality of Legislative Council Members

• Some participants suggested that, if the total number of Legislative Council seats were increased, the ceiling for the number of Legislative Council Members with foreign nationality or right of abode should also be increased accordingly. However, some opined that according to the Basic Law, there was no need to raise the ceiling for the number of Legislative Council Members with foreign nationality or right of abode even if there were an expansion in the membership of the Legislative Council.

Other Views

Universal Suffrage

• There was considerable discussion on whether universal suffrage was the same as one-person-one-vote.

The Third Report

• Many participants pointed out that the Third Report of the Task Force provided the community with a framework and a principle, which was that universal suffrage would be achieved ultimately. From a positive point of view, we could move towards the goal of universal suffrage through increasing the representativeness of functional constituencies and the Election Committee.

Timetable

• Some participants considered that if we were to discuss the Third Report, there should first of all be a timetable to let the public know when universal suffrage would be implemented.

• Some participants pointed out that the current discussion was only seeking to mend the system here and there; nothing much could be done. Some other participants opined that in view of the current political atmosphere, discussion on constitutional development should be held in abeyance, pending an improvement in the atmosphere.