Seminars and Discussion Group

Seminar on Constitutional Development
(24 May 2004)

Group Discussion Summaries
Red Group: Dr Philemon Choi

(Translation)

Method for Selecting the Chief Executive

The Number of Members of the Election Committee

• Many participants hoped that the Election Committee could be expanded to more than 800 members, so that its composition could reflect broad participation by the majority of Hong Kong people.

The Composition of the Election Committee

• In terms of representation, many participants were concerned about the current composition of the four sectors of the Election Committee. From a structural point of view, the industrial, commercial and financial sectors were notably better represented, while the grassroots sector and the middle class were less well represented.
  
  

• A participant suggested that the Election Committee should be augmented with more District Council members because they could represent the majority of citizens. However, another participant pointed out that many voters only wanted to elect representatives to handle district issues on their behalf. If District Council members were given a say in selecting the Chief Executive, voters would have different considerations when casting their votes in District Council election.

The Number of Members Required for Nominating Candidates

• Many participants hoped that the threshold for candidature would be lowered. For example, the number of subscribers required could be reduced; alternatively each Election Committee member could be allowed to nominate more than one person. This would enable more high-calibre people who are interested to participate in the Chief Executive election.

The Delineation and Size of the Electorate of the Election Committee

• Participants agreed that the electorate of the Election Committee should be broadened. In particular, special emphasis was placed on participation by the grassroots and the middle class sectors; the wider the participation, the better. Balanced participation was also emphasized.

Others

• There was a proposal that, instead of selecting the Chief Executive, the Election Committee should only nominate candidates. The nominees should then face all the citizens in order to ensure maximum participation of Hong Kong people within the confines arising from the absence of universal suffrage.
  
  

• It was proposed that the future Chief Executives should be allowed to retain their political party membership after nomination because it would help them secure a certain level of support in the Legislative Council.

Method for Forming the Legislative Council

The Number of Seats Returned by Functional Constituencies

• A participant was of the view that many incumbent Legislative Council Members returned by functional constituencies only represented the interests of their respective constituencies but not the interests of Hong Kong people as a whole.
  
  

• A participant supported increasing the number of seats returned by functional constituencies to include hitherto unrepresented sectors and to allow more public participation.

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

• Some participants strongly favoured the notion of "one person one vote", given the fact that a small number of voters were entitled to two votes at present. However, there were others who thought that a "one person two votes" system could be implemented. Apart from direct elections, existing functional constituencies may be designed to expand the current electorate of 160 000 voters so as to allow balanced participation by more members of the public.

Provisions regarding Nationality of Legislative Council Members

• A participant was of the view that as Hong Kong was now a part of the People's Republic of China, people who were not of Chinese nationality should not sit on the Legislative Council. There were, however, many other participants who expressed contrary views on the ground that, firstly, participation by people not of Chinese nationality was permitted by the Basic Law, and secondly, Hong Kong was an international metropolis that needed to have individuals with global vision sitting on its legislature. Most of the participants agreed that the status quo was worth maintaining, at least at the present stage.

Others

• Participants all hoped to bring about, as far as possible, balanced and broad participation so as to enable more participation by people from the grassroot and the middle class sector.

Other Views

Promoting Discussion

• Some participants would like to see seminars of this type to be extended to various districts so that people from different age groups (e.g. the elderly and young people) could air their views on constitutional development through dialogue.

Participation of the Central Government

• While a participant hoped that officials of the Central Authorities could be invited to take part in the discussion, some other participants expressed concerns that the presence of officials of the Central Authorities would give an impression that the discussion was led by the Central Authorities.

Supporting "Software"

• The question of supporting "software" was raised by some participants. Apart from the "hardware" (i.e. the election method), one should not overlook other related issues such as political research, the grooming of political talents, development of think tank and the existence of a narrow tax base, etc.

Relationship Between the Executive and the Legislature

• A participant opined that the relationship between the executive and the legislature should not be overlooked. Considerable tension now existed between the two. When deciding which election method to adopt, one must consider whether the method could ameliorate the problem.

(Please refer to the video recording for the floor speech.)