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The Government presented the District Councils Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 3) Order 2013 to the Legislative Council (LegCo) today (June 26) to add 19 elected seats for nine District Councils (DCs) for the fifth-term DCs.
The allocation of the 19 newly added elected seats is as follows:
* one seat each for Tsuen Wan and North DCs;
* two seats each for Sham Shui Po, Kowloon City, Kwun Tong, Yau Tsim Mong and Sha Tin DCs;
* three seats for Sai Kung DC; and
* four seats for Yuen Long DC.
A spokesman for the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau said that if the Order is approved by the LegCo, the number of elected seats for the 18 DCs would increase from 412 to 431 from the fifth-term DCs.
"We have undertaken a review of the number of elected seats for the fifth-term DCs having regard to the population forecast of Hong Kong by mid-2015 (i.e., 7 311 300), the continued application of a population quota of about 17 000 residents to one DC elected seat, the abolition of DC appointed seats from the fifth-term DCs onwards, and the increasingly important role DCs will play in district administration. As a result, the number of elected seats for the DCs which, according to the calculation, should have a reduction in the number of elected seats will not be reduced, the number of elected seats for the nine DCs which should have an increase according to the outcome of the calculation will be increased, while the number of elected seats for the remaining DCs will remain unchanged.
"The Government consulted the LegCo Panel on Constitutional Affairs and the Chairmen and Vice Chairmen of the 18 DCs in May 2013 on the increase in the number of elected seats."
The number of elected seats for each of the 18 DCs is set out in Part 1 of Schedule 3 to the District Councils Ordinance (DCO). Pursuant to section 8 of the DCO, the Chief Executive in Council may, subject to the approval of the LegCo, amend Schedule 3 by order published in the Gazette to adjust the number of seats.
At the same time, the Administration will consult Eastern and Wan Chai DCs and the local residents of the possibly affected DC constituency areas on whether the District boundary between the two Districts should be adjusted in order to address the problem of Wan Chai DC having a small number of seats. In the event that a consensus can be reached among the parties concerned, the Administration will consider introducing further amendments after the summer recess.
Ends/Wednesday, June 26, 2013
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