Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Simon Young on Political System Transformation in Hong Kong (Verfassungsblog)

Simon Young
Verfassungsblog: On Matters Constitutional 
Published on 13 April 2021
China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) and Standing Committee of the NPC (NPCSC) decided in March 2021 to transform Hong Kong’s political system. Within a couple of months, the Hong Kong government will amend local laws to enable elections for a reconfigured Election Committee (EC) and Legislative Council (LegCo) to be held, respectively, in September and December 2021, ahead of the Chief Executive (CE) election in March 2022.

Reforming Hong Kong’s electoral system
The CE is Hong Kong’s political leader, accountable to both the central government and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). The CE is nominated by EC members, elected by the EC, and appointed by Beijing. The EC was first established in 1998 with 800 members divided equally across four sectors. In 2012, it was expanded to 1,200 members. EC members are elected by almost 250,000 voters, most of them individuals, some corporate. To run for CE a nomination by one-eighth of the EC members is needed, and the successful candidate needs more than 50 per cent support. The CE is not allowed to be a member of a political party. The new reforms will increase the size of the EC by another 300 members, add a new sector for Hong Kong members of national bodies, abolish individual voting, and give EC members the power to nominate LegCo members. ...  Click here to view the full text.

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