Seminars and Discussion Group

Regional Forum on Constitutional Development
(Hong Kong Island)
(21 July 2004)

Group Discussion Summaries
Group 4: Mr Lo Kam-wah

(Translation)

Method for Selecting the Chief Executive

The Number of Members of the Election Committee

• A participant suggested increasing the number of members of the Election Committee to 2 400. Another participant was of the view that since universal suffrage could not be implemented now, the number could be increased to 80 000 or 100 000.
  
  

• Participants agreed that the Election Committee should have broad representativeness. Some participants suggested that we could make reference to the electoral college adopted in the US Presidential Election.

The Composition of the Election Committee

• A participant suggested that the delineation of subsectors should be reviewed.
  
  

• Some participants proposed to consider introducing some new sub-sectors, e.g. parents, area committees, pre-primary education workers and some small district organizations.
  
  

• Regarding the existing subsectors, a participant opined that the numbers of members of certain subsectors were not in proportion to the size of their electorate. He suggested that there should be a balanced representation of the different subsectors.

The Number of Members Required for Nominating Candidates

• Some participants were of the opinion that the number of members required for nominating a candidate should be changed, while some opined that there was no need for change. Participants agreed that we should not focus too much on the actual number. They were inclined to set a ratio, for example, the number of members required for nominating a candidate should be one eighth or one fifth of the total number of Election Committee members.

Others

• A participant was inclined to maintain the status quo because he thought that the government should concentrate its resources on improvement of the local economy and livelihood in view of the governance problem in recent years.
  
  

• Participants hoped that a timetable on the implementation of universal suffrage should be drawn up as early as possible so as to minimize dispute and allow time for the necessary infrastructure to be in place.

Method for Forming the Legislative Council

The Number of Seats in the Legislative Council

• Some participants opined that the number of seats of the Legislative Council should not be increased because the government had introduced too many new measures in recent years and it should now concentrate its efforts on policy administration and economic development. A participant considered the technical constraint and thought that the Legislative Council Building did not have enough space to accommodate more Legislative Council Members.
  
  

• With regard to those participants who supported an increase in the number of seats of the Legislative Council, some proposed that the number of seats for geographical constituencies and for functional constituencies should each be increased by five or ten. One participant suggested increasing the number of seats in the Legislative Council to 120.

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

• Some participants proposed to review the delineation of functional constituencies with the aim of achieving a balanced representation of interests and even participation.

Provisions regarding Nationality of Legislative Council Members

• Some participants were of the view that in accordance with the principle of "Hong Kong People Ruling Hong Kong", all Legislative Council Members should be of Chinese nationality.
  
  

• Some other participants were of the opinion that we should respect the Basic Law and maintain the relevant requirements.

Other Views

• Participants were generally of the view that all changes should comply with the principle of gradual and orderly progress, and hoped that a timetable could be drawn up early.