Election Committee elections offer stronger safeguards for city’s future
Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission Barnabas Fung Wah (second from right ) and Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang Kwok-wai (second from left) oversee ballot-counting at the central counting station at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on Sunday. (EDMOND TANG / CHINA DAILY)
Nearly 90 percent of Hong Kong’s some 5,000 registered voters cast their ballots in the Election Committee elections on Sunday.
The elections for the expanded 1,500-member Election Committee, which will choose the special administrative region’s next chief executive, as well as 40 members of the 90-member legislature, laid the groundwork for implementing the principle of “patriots administering Hong Kong” and offers stronger safeguards for the city’s future.
Their (next chief executive and new LegCo members) priority as patriots is to prevent the kind of chaos and violence that engulfed the city in 2019 and ultimately hurt its economy and people’s livelihood. At the same time, they should have the vision to fully cooperate with the Chinese mainland for the continued prosperity of Hong Kong
Bernard Charnwut Chan, Executive Council convener
Executive Councilor and lawmaker Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee — one of the ex officio members — said the new electoral system ensures that candidates who truly support the Basic Law and are loyal to the Hong Kong SAR are elected and that only patriots can administer Hong Kong.
Through the elections, the successful candidates are fully assessed for their competence, knowledge and diligence, which will help the executive branch in effective governance, especially in addressing Hong Kong’s deep-rooted problems, Ip said in an interview at the central polling station at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai.
At the same time, the Legislative Council has amended its Rules of Procedure to avoid filibustering that the opposition camp had repeatedly used to disrupt the legislature in the past, said Ip.
“Hong Kong’s future now looks very bright to me,” said Ip.
Executive Council Convener Bernard Charnwut Chan, who voted in the insurance subsector, said members of the Election Committee will be the “gatekeepers” for other major elections in Hong Kong.
The city’s next chief executive and new LegCo members nominated by the committee must be the “right people who can serve Hong Kong”, he said.
Their priority as patriots is to prevent the kind of chaos and violence that engulfed the city in 2019 and ultimately hurt its economy and people’s livelihood. At the same time, they should have the vision to fully cooperate with the Chinese mainland for the continued prosperity of Hong Kong, Chan said.
“I think we all recognize that Hong Kong’s future is very much in line with the country’s prosperity. So, our country definitely needs to choose the right people who are able to bridge Hong Kong with the mainland,” said Chan.
Sunday’s elections saw a 100 percent turnout in three subsectors — legal, technology and innovation, and architectural, surveying, planning, and landscape.
A voter leaves the central polling station at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai after casting her ballot on Sunday. (EDMOND TANG / CHINA DAILY)
Solicitor Ambrose Lau Hon-chuen, a candidate in the legal subsector, said he expects all members to “dutifully” decide who is best suited to lead Hong Kong in the chief executive election to be held in March.
Therefore, the Election Committee members have to consider the best interests of Hong Kong and the country, regardless of the candidates’ class or background.
They should choose a leader who’s not only a true patriot, but is able to solve problems, serve the public and unite all sectors, he added.
Simon Hoey Lee, who ran under the commercial (third) subsector, agrees that the Election Committee members should keep an eye on whether the candidates for chief executive and the LegCo members are truly capable of solving Hong Kong’s deep-seated problems.
He also expressed confidence in the new Election Committee being able to do a better job in taking care of social interests and cooperating with the mainland, as up to 60 seats have been created for grass-roots associations, 27 seats for mainland-based Hong Kong associations, and 110 seats for Hong Kong members of national organizations.
These new arrangements will ensure that the committee’s members are from all walks of life who can enhance the effectiveness of Hong Kong’s governance and integration into the country’s development, said Lee.
