HONG KONG 2004 - Constitution and Administration

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:

The election of the third term Legislative Council was held on September 12, 2004. A total of 159 validly nominated candidates contested the 60 Legislative Council seats. Over 1.78 million registered electors cast their votes on the polling day, representing a turnout rate of 55.63 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 third term Legislative Council, the HKSAR is divided into five geographical constituencies, each having four to eight 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 third 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 the other remaining candidates.

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 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. 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. 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, 2002, 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.