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Under the Basic Law, the Legislative Council of the HKSAR shall be constituted
by elections, and the method for its formation is to be specified in the
light of the actual situation in the HKSAR and in accordance with the
principle of gradual and orderly progress. The Basic Law also provides
that the ultimate aim is the election of all members of the Legislative
Council by universal suffrage.
The composition of the first three terms of the Legislative
Council as set out in the Basic Law is as follows:—
|
Membership |
First term
(1998-2000) |
Second term
(2000-2004) |
Third term
(2004-2008) |
|
(a) |
elected by geographical constituencies through direct elections |
20 |
24 |
30 |
|
(b) |
elected by functional constituencies |
30 |
30 |
30 |
|
(c) |
elected by an election committee |
10 |
6 |
— |
| |
|
—
60 |
—
60 |
—
60 |
The second term Legislative Council election was held successfully on
September 10, 2000. A total of 155 validly nominated candidates contested
the 60 Legislative Council seats. Over 1.33 million registered electors
cast their votes on the polling day, representing a turnout rate of 43.6
per cent. The election was conducted fairly, openly and honestly under
the supervision of the Electoral Affairs Commission.
The Basic Law provides that if there is a need to
amend the method for the formation of the Legislative Council after 2007,
such amendments must be made with the endorsement of a two-thirds majority
of all the members of the Legislative Council and the consent of the Chief
Executive, and shall be reported to the Standing Committee of the National
People's Congress for the record.
Geographical constituency elections are held on the basis of universal
suffrage. All eligible persons aged 18 or above have the right to be registered
as electors and to vote in the elections. There are currently about three
million registered electors.
For the second term Legislative Council, the HKSAR
is divided into five geographical constituencies, each having four to
six seats. The List Voting System operating under the Largest Remainder
formula, which is a form of proportional representation voting system,
is adopted. Under this system, candidates contest the election in the
form of lists. Each list may consist of any number of candidates up to
the number of seats in the relevant constituency. An elector is entitled
to cast one vote for a list in the constituency in which he is registered.
The seats for the constituency are distributed among the lists according
to the number of votes obtained by the respective lists.
Any permanent resident of the HKSAR who is a Chinese
citizen with no right of abode in any foreign country may stand for election
in any geographical constituency, provided that he or she is a registered
elector on the Final Register, has attained the age of 21, and has ordinarily
resided in Hong Kong for the preceding three years.
Each functional constituency represents an economic, social, or professional
group which is substantial and important to the HKSAR. For the second
term Legislative Council, these are (1) Heung Yee Kuk; (2) agriculture
and fisheries; (3) insurance; (4) transport; (5) education; (6) legal;
(7) accountancy; (8) medical; (9) health services; (10) engineering; (11)
architectural, surveying and planning; (12) labour; (13) social welfare;
(14) real estate and construction; (15) tourism; (16) commercial (first);
(17) commercial (second); (18) industrial (first); (19) industrial (second);
(20) finance; (21) financial services; (22) sports, performing arts, culture
and publication; (23) import and export; (24) textiles and garment; (25)
wholesale and retail; (26) information technology; (27) catering; and
(28) District Council. The labour functional constituency returns three
Legislative Council members, while the other 27 functional constituencies
return one member each.
Functional constituencies which represent professional
groups have electorates based on membership of professions with well-established
and recognised qualifications, including statutory qualifications. Each
individual member has one vote. The electorates of functional constituencies
representing economic or social groups are generally made up of corporate
members of major organisations representative of the relevant sectors.
Each corporate member appoints an authorised representative to cast the
vote on its behalf in an election.
To become a candidate in the functional constituencies,
one must satisfy the same age and residential requirements as in a geographical
constituency election, be a registered elector on the Final Register,
and also a registered elector of or have a substantial connection with
the relevant functional constituency. To give due recognition to the significant
contribution made by foreign nationals and the fact that Hong Kong is
an international city and to meet the requirement of the relevant provision
in the Basic Law, permanent residents of the HKSAR who are not of Chinese
nationality or who have the right of abode in foreign countries may stand
for election in 12 designated functional constituencies (i.e. functional
constituencies No. 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 23 mentioned
above). Elections for functional constituencies (except functional constituencies
Nos. 1 to 4) are determined by a simple majority voting system, i.e. the
candidate who obtains the most votes will be elected. For functional constituencies
Nos. 1 to 4, the preferential elimination voting system is used. Under
this system, an elector is entitled to cast one vote. The vote is transferable
among the candidates marked on a ballot paper if the elector marks his
preferences for more than one candidate. A candidate who obtains an absolute
majority of the votes will be elected. If no candidate obtains an absolute
majority, the candidate with the least number of votes will be eliminated
and that candidate's votes will be transferred to other candidates in
accordance with the preferences marked on the ballot paper. The process
will continue until one candidate obtains an absolute majority over other
remaining candidates.
The qualifications for candidature in the Legislative Council Election
Committee election are the same as those for geographical constituency
elections. The Election Committee is composed of members who are HKSAR
permanent residents from four sectors: (1) industrial, commercial and
financial; (2) the professions; (3) labour, social services and religious;
and (4) members of the Legislative Council, Hong Kong deputies to the
National People's Congress, representatives of Hong Kong members of the
National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference,
and representatives of district-based organisations. Each of these four
sectors returns 200 members. Each sector is further divided into subsectors,
each returning a specified number of representatives to the Election Committee
by election. Members of the Legislative Council and Hong Kong deputies
to the National People's Congress are ex officio members of the
Election Committee, and the religious subsector returns its representatives
to the Election Committee by nomination from designated religious bodies.
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The method for returning six members to the second term Legislative
Council by the Election Committee is the block vote system - each
member of the Election Committee is required to cast six votes and
the result is determined by a simple majority. After the end of
the second term Legislative Council, the Election Committee will
no longer be responsible for returning members of the Legislative
Council. The six seats thus released will be filled by members returned
from geographical constituencies.
Elections for the third term Legislative Council
will be held in 2004. The Legislative Council (Amendment) Ordinance
2003, enacted in July 2003, provides the legal basis for the detailed
arrangements of the elections. The third term Legislative Council
will have a total of 60 members, with 30 members returned by geographical
constituencies, and another 30 by functional constituencies.
Under the Basic Law, the Chief Executive is selected by election
or through consultations held locally, and appointed by the CPG.
The method for selecting the Chief Executive shall be specified
in the light of the actual situation in the HKSAR and in accordance
with the principle of gradual and orderly progress. The Basic Law
also provides that if there is a need to amend the method for selecting
the Chief Executives for the terms subsequent to the year 2007,
such amendments must be made with the endorsement of a two-thirds
majority of all the members of the Legislative Council and the consent
of the Chief Executive, and shall be reported to the Standing Committee
of the National People's Congress for approval. The ultimate aim
is the selection of the Chief Executive by universal suffrage upon
nomination by a broadly representative nominating committee in accordance
with democratic procedures. Annex I to the Basic Law lays down the
basic framework as to how the Chief Executive shall be selected
through local election. It provides, inter alia, that the
Chief Executive shall be elected by a broadly representative Election
Committee through secret ballot on a one-person-one-vote basis.
In accordance with the Basic Law, the Election
Committee responsible for electing the second term Chief Executive
in 2002 is one and the same as the Election Committee that returned
six members to the second term Legislative Council in 2000. (For
the composition of the Election Committee, see the relevant section
under Electoral System for the Legislative Council.) Since only
one candidate, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, was validly nominated at the close
of nominations, he was therefore declared elected at the 2002 Chief
Executive Election by the Returning Officer in accordance with the
Chief Executive Election Ordinance, on February 28, 2002. On March
4, the CPG formally announced, in accordance with the Basic Law,
the appointment of Mr Tung Chee Hwa as the Chief Executive for a
second term of five years.
Eighteen District Councils (DCs) are established in the HKSAR to
advise the Government on district affairs and to promote recreational
and cultural activities, and environmental improvements within the
districts. A District Council is composed of elected members, appointed
members, and, in the case of District Councils in rural areas, the
chairmen of Rural Committees as ex officio members. The simple
majority voting system is adopted for DC elections. For the first
term DCs, the HKSAR was divided into 390 constituencies, each represented
by one elected member. Having regard to the significant increase
in population in certain districts, 10 elected seats were added
for the second term DCs, thus making a total of 400 seats. The election
for the second term DCs was held on November 23, 2003. Over 1.06
million registered electors cast their votes on the polling day,
representing a turnout rate of 44.10 per cent. The second term DCs
began their four-year term on January 1, 2004. |
The Electoral Affairs Commission, an independent statutory body, is responsible
for ensuring that elections in the HKSAR are conducted openly, honestly
and fairly. It comprises three politically neutral persons appointed by
the Chief Executive and is headed by a High Court judge. The commission
is responsible for making recommendations to the Chief Executive on the
delineation of geographical constituencies and District Council constituencies,
making regulations on practical arrangements for the Chief Executive election,
the Legislative Council election, the District Council election and rural
elections, and handling complaints relating to these elections. The Registration
and Electoral Office, a government department headed by the Chief Electoral
Officer, works under the commission's direction and carries out its decisions. |
