| 21 additional elected seats for sixth-term District Councils |
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The Government presented the District Councils Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 3) Order 2017 (the Order) to the Legislative Council (LegCo) today (October 11) to add a total of 21 elected seats to 10 District Councils (DCs) for the sixth-term DCs. The allocation of the 21 newly added elected seats is as follows: (a) one seat each for Kowloon City, Yau Tsim Mong and Tsuen Wan DCs; (b) two seats each for Sham Shui Po, Kwai Tsing, Tuen Mun and Sai Kung DCs; (c) three seats each for Kwun Tong and Sha Tin DCs; (d) four seats for Yuen Long DC; and (e) no change to the number of elected seats for the Central and Western, Wan Chai, Eastern, Southern, Wong Tai Sin, North, Tai Po and Islands DCs. A spokesman for the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau said that if the Order was approved by the LegCo, the number of elected seats for the 18 DCs would increase from 431 to 452 from the sixth-term DCs. "We have undertaken a review of the number of elected seats for the sixth-term DCs having regard to the forecast of the population of Hong Kong by mid-2019 and the population in mid-2016 derived from the 2016 Population By-census (whichever is the greater), the continued application of a population quota of about 17 000 residents to one DC elected seat and the methodology used in the last review, and the abolition of DC appointed seats from the fifth-term DCs onwards. The Government listened to the views of the LegCo Panel on Constitutional Affairs and the Chairmen and Vice Chairmen of the 18 DCs in July 2017 on the proposed increase in the number of elected seats," the spokesman said. 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. Pursuant to section 8 of the Ordinance, 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. Ends/Wednesday, October 11, 2017 Issued at HKT 16:20 NNNN |