| LC: Speech by SCMA in moving the resumption of second reading of the Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2010 |
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Following is the speech (English translation) by the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Stephen Lam, in moving the resumption of the second reading of the Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2010 in the Legislative Council on March 3: President, I now move to resume the second reading debate of the Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2010 (the Bill).
Purpose and Content of the Bill According to the amendments to Annex II of the Basic Law recorded by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the number of Legislative Council (LegCo) Members returned by geographical constituencies (GCs) and by functional constituencies (FCs) will each be increased from 30 to 35. The Bill provides for the details of the method for forming the LegCo in 2012. The Bills Committee has completed its scrutiny of the Bill. The main points of the Government's proposals in the Bill include: (i) the number of GCs will be retained at five, and the member of seats for each GC will be increased from four to eight seats to five to nine seats; (ii) the new District Council (DC) FC is named as the DC (second) FC under the Bill. The five new seats of this FC will be returned from the whole territory as a single constituency, in accordance with votes cast under the proportional representation list system by registered electors who are not entitled or who have not opted to vote in other FCs. Only elected DC members are eligible to be nominated as candidates. Candidates must be nominated by no less than 15 elected DC members. Persons registered for traditional FCs may choose to remain in their respective FCs or to be registered for the DC (second) FC. However, elected DC members may only be registered for the existing DC FC. Besides, persons eligible to be registered for Heung Yee Kuk, Agriculture and Fisheries, Insurance and Transport FCs may only be registered for their respective FCs under the current law; (iii) the maximum amount of election expenses that can be incurred by each list of candidates at a DC (second) FC election is $6 million and a deposit of $25,000 for each list is required. The rate of financial assistance for each list of candidates or candidate for the LegCo election 2012 will be increased from $11 per vote to $12 per vote; (iv) the existing DC FC is named as the DC (first) FC in the Bill. Its electorate is composed of elected DC members. Same as the DC (second) FC, only elected DC members may be nominated as candidates or nominate candidates for the DC (first) FC. However, an elected DC member may only nominate either a candidate in the DC (first) FC or a list of candidates in the DC (second) FC; (v) as regards the electorate of the traditional FCs, having regard to the views of society, we propose in the Bill that consular posts and international organisations established by foreign governments in the Special Administrative Region are no longer eligible to be registered as corporate electors; and (vi) the Bill also proposes some technical adjustments to update the names of corporate electors in certain FCs and delete those organisations that have ceased operation. Apart from the above main points, the Bill also provides for the arrangements under which the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) will compile the first register of electors for the DC (second) FC and the related transitional arrangements.
Discussions of the Bills Committee Taking into account the views expressed by Members of the Bills Committee, we agree to make certain amendments to the Bill and I shall propose these amendments at the Committee Stage. For the time being, I would briefly describe our major amendments.
Electorate of LegCo FCs In the 2012 LegCo election, the five DC (second) FC seats will be returned by approximately 3.2 million registered electors on a one-person-one-vote basis. This will substantially enhance the democratic elements of the LegCo election. For the traditional FCs, our general policy position is that there should be no substantial changes to these FCs. However, as a regular exercise before each LegCo election, we have reviewed whether there is a need to propose technical adjustments to the electorate of the traditional FCs to reflect the latest developments. Since the enactment of the Legislative Council (Amendment) Ordinance 2003, we have received applications from more than 100 bodies asking to join the FCs. We have examined their applications and proposed to adjust the electorate of the Transport FC, Wholesale and Retail FC and Information Technology FC. For the Transport FC, there are views that the electorate of this FC cannot reflect the development of the sector in recent years. We propose to add 28 corporate members including franchisees and licensees of the Airport Authority Hong Kong, land transport service operators such as taxi associations or company, non-franchised bus associations, car park companies, company managing tunnel and cross-boundary bus association, driving training bodies, logistics associations and vehicle maintenance association. Regarding the Wholesale and Retail FC, in view of the importance of the wholesale and retail sector in Hong Kong and the development of the Chinese medicine sector in Hong Kong in recent years, we propose to include in this FC three Chinese medicine associations that are more sizable and representative in the sector. For the Information Technology FC, taking into account the development of information technology in Hong Kong, the work of the Hong Kong Information Technology Joint Council Limited (ITJC) in promoting the development of the sector in Hong Kong, and the representativeness of the ITJC, we propose to include members of the ITJC who are entitled to vote at its general meetings as eligible electors. Overall speaking, the Government's proposals will result in minor adjustments to the electorate of the three traditional FCs to reflect their latest developments.
Financial Assistance for Candidates of LegCo Election President, we understand that many Members consider that we should encourage more public-spirited persons to participate in the LegCo election. To this end, after consideration, the Government proposes to further enhance the financial assistance for candidates of the LegCo election. Under the existing arrangement, the subsidy rate is the lower of $11 per vote times the number of valid votes received by candidates or lists of candidates, or 50 per cent of the declared election expenses. In the Bill, we have already proposed to raise the rate from $11 to $12. One of the considerations in designing the scheme is that the provision of government funded financial assistance should not exceed 50 per cent of the declared election expenses of the lists of candidates or candidates. We consider this an appropriate arrangement. The Government does not intend to change its basic policy position in respect of the financial assistance scheme. That said, we propose to introduce some technical amendments to the arrangements for financial assistance for candidates of the LegCo election. We now propose to change the calculation of the subsidy rate from "50 per cent of the declared election expenses" to "50 per cent of the election expenses limit provided that the subsidy amount does not exceed the amount of the declared election expenses of the lists of candidates or candidates". This proposal is applicable to eligible candidates in any GC or FC elections, whether contested or uncontested. This technical amendment allows more candidates to obtain financial assistance of $12 per vote based on the number of valid votes received and provides more room for candidates to obtain financial assistance.
Registration Arrangements for DC (second) FC President, we also propose technical amendments to Clause 37 of the Bill to reflect the arrangements to be adopted by the ERO in respect of the voter registration (VR) for the DC (second) FC. In compiling the first register of electors for the DC (second) FC, the ERO will use the 2011 GC final register as the basis and delete from it electors of the existing FCs and those who elect not to be registered for the DC (second) FC. For any person who elects to be registered for the DC (second) FC during the 2012 VR cycle and any elector of the existing FC who elects to be registered for the DC (second) FC, they will be included in the first register of electors for the DC (second) FC. This arrangement will facilitate the compilation of the first register of electors.
Concluding Remarks President, the Bill provides for the specific implementation details on the method for forming the LegCo in 2012. The proposals will substantially enhance the democratic elements of the election. All eligible electors will have two votes. In future, they may cast one vote in GC and another vote in FC. The Bill also allows more public-spirited persons to take part in the LegCo election and pave the way to facilitate universal suffrage for the selection of the Chief Executive in 2017 and the formation of the LegCo in 2020. I urge Members to vote in support of the Bill and the amendments which I shall propose at the Committee Stage. Thank you, President. Ends/Thursday, March 3, 2011 |