HK seeks views on electoral reform
Print Edition
The Hong Kong government yesterday launched a public consultation on a constitutional reform which aims to realize the election of the next chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region by universal suffrage in 2017.
Announcing the consultation document, Carrie Lam, chief secretary for administration, made a statement at a weekly meeting of the Legislative Council on the methods for selecting the fifth chief executive and forming the next legislature.
Lam, who also heads a special team for the public consultation, said the consultation period will last five months.
She said the election by universal suffrage of the chief executive and the Legislative Council must be implemented under the framework of the Basic Law as well as decisions and interpretations of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature.
Amending the two elections’ methods in Hong Kong needs to go through a five-step progress, she said.
First, the chief executive invites China’s top legislature to decide whether it is necessary to amend the methods of selection and formation.
Second, the legislature will make a determination on whether any amendment to the methods may be made.
Third, if there are amendments, the SAR government will introduce a resolution to be passed by a two-thirds majority of all Legislative Council members.
Fourth, the chief executive will consent to the resolution as passed by the Legislative Council.
And finally, the chief executive should lodge the relevant bill to the NPC Standing Committee for approval or for the record.
“Today is a milestone in the development of Hong Kong’s political system,” Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said, adding that the government will hold an open attitude to heed public views.
The Hong Kong government also launched a special website, www.2017.gov.hk, to solicit public views along with the consultation document’s full text, key facts about Hong Kong’s constitutional development and other information.
Lam told reporters that it is the common aspiration of the central government, the SAR government and the people to elect the chief executive by universal suffrage in 2017.
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