The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is about to hold the eighth-term Legislative Council election, which is a major event in the process of accelerating Hong Kong's transition from good governance to prosperity.
By learning from past experience, taking a good grasp of the current situation and looking forward to the future, people are increasingly confident in the established institutional system’s ability to fully implement the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong", and are full of hope for the upcoming Legislative Council election to better promote high-quality democracy in line with Hong Kong's reality.
The favorable situation under which the Seventh-term Legislative Council operates was hard-won and achieved through bitter struggles. Before this achievement, in many previous Legislative Council elections, anti-China subversive forces and local proxies of external hostile forces took advantage of the loopholes in the original electoral system to enter the Legislative Council and act recklessly and wantonly in disrupting its operation. They abused the rules of procedure, manipulated political issues, and created divisions and conflicts, seriously interfering with the SAR government's governance in accordance with the law, hindering economic development and improvement of people's livelihoods, seriously undermining the constitutional order of the SAR, and endangering national sovereignty, security and development interests. Most notably, during the anti-extradition movement in 2019, they indulged in hijacking the Legislative Council and even paralyzing its operation - by making use of despicable means such as filibustering and quorum call. The House Committee of the sixth-term Legislative Council was suspended for more than eight months during the 2019-20 legislative year. As many as 14 bills, including a series of livelihood-related bills that could have benefited the general public, especially the vulnerable groups, could not be reviewed in a timely manner, and over 80 pieces of subsidiary legislation could not be handled before the expiration of the term. At a critical juncture, the central government resolutely adopted measures that addressed both the symptoms and root causes of the SAR’s chaotic situation, such as formulating and implementing the Hong Kong SAR National Security Law (2020) and optimizing the SAR’s electoral system, all of which contributed to a major transformation of the SAR’s situation – facilitating a transition from chaos to stability. Under the new electoral system, the seventh-term Legislative Council election was successfully held in December 2021. The principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong" was put into practice, and the operation of the Legislative Council returned to the right track.
The seventh-term Legislative Council has performed its duties in a responsible and proactive way, playing a significant role in and making important contributions to Hong Kong's transition from chaos to order and from good governance to prosperity. The current Legislative Council has achieved breakthroughs in multiple aspects: Nearly 130 bills have been enacted after proper deliberation during its term, or an increase of more than 60 percent compared with the same period of the previous term. Over 260 projects, such as land and housing-related ones, with a total amount of nearly HK$700 billion have been approved, enhancing Hong Kong's competitiveness, and aligning the SAR’s development with national development strategies. After rigorous, professional and efficient deliberation, the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance was unanimously passed in March 2024, ultimately fulfilling the SAR’s constitutional responsibility stipulated in Article 23 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The Legislative Council has come up with a large number of constructive suggestions for the government's work, based on which the executive branch made over 1,800 amendments to various proposed bills. Notably, the Legislative Council passed in September the Basic Housing Units Bill to tackle the longstanding problem of poor-quality subdivided housing in Hong Kong, and cooperates with district councils to improve district-level governance, effectively responding to the demands of the people and alleviating their concerns. The Legislative Council proactively proposed and passed a new code of conduct for Legislative Council members to systematically and comprehensively regulate the behavior of its members and enhance self-supervision and restraint mechanisms. It is particularly worth noting that the current Legislative Council resolutely upholds the executive-led system with the chief executive at its core as stipulated in the Basic Law, and fully supports the SAR government in governing in accordance with the law. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu and President of the Legislative Council Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen have engaged in good communication and interaction. The executive and legislative branches exercise checks and balances while cooperate with each other, with an emphasis on cooperation, establishing a more harmonious relationship. All of these are appreciated by Hong Kong society.
Building on the good practice of the seventh-term Legislative Council, the eighth-term Legislative Council election is bound to be conducted in an atmosphere that showcases high-quality democracy. The practice of the Seventh-term Legislative Council vigorously demonstrates that the new electoral system is a good system, and is in line with the principle of "one country, two systems" and the reality of Hong Kong. The good experiences and practices it has gained and accumulated will facilitate the eighth-term Legislative Council election to further demonstrate the broad representativeness, political inclusiveness, balanced participation and fair competition of the new electoral system, and ensure that democracy is better guaranteed and reflected in more open, fair, just, clean and orderly elections. According to reports by Hong Kong media, as the nomination period for the election approaches, some incumbent legislators have indicated that they will not run for a new term for various reasons. Meanwhile, some political groups and civil organizations have announced their plans to go all out to run for election, and some new faces from all walks of life have signaled that they consider or prepare to run. The orderly replacement of legislators through elections is a normal process, as well as an essential feature of democracy. As Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said, the personal decisions of those who do not seek reelection should be respected; but those who love the country and the SAR, and who are capable and willing to serve Hong Kong, should be encouraged to actively run for election. What needs to be emphasized and noteworthy is that under the new electoral system, election in the SAR has regained its essence - selecting the virtuous and capable, with a particular focus on fair and healthy competition. Any candidate who is confirmed as an eligible candidate through established procedures will compete on the same starting line. There is no such thing as a "list of the blessed", nor does anyone enjoy any "special treatment" regarding the upcoming election - as speculated by some commentators. All candidates are expected to go all out to compete for votes on their own, leveraging their own political platforms as well as personal reputation and capabilities. There is no doubt that the upcoming election will further demonstrate the desirable features of high-quality democracy, the enthusiasm of candidates, and vigorousness of campaign activities, as well as social unity to be achieved with collective wisdom underpinned by a positive, pragmatic and proactive spirit - for the sake of Hong Kong’s bright future and residents’ well-being.
With the SAR government and all sectors of society adhering to established principles while innovatively working together with one heart, the upcoming election will prove to be more successful with desirable outcomes for sure, creating a Legislative Council of the highest quality in history. The SAR government is fulfilling its responsibility as the “family head” of the “Hong Kong household”, or the “first person” in charge of the special administrative region, in proactively organizing the election in accordance with the law. At a high-level seminar on Thursday centering on the relationship between the executive and the legislature, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said that the administration will work closely with the Electoral Affairs Commission to ensure that the election is conducted in a fair, impartial, honest, safe and orderly manner. He also called on all voters to fulfill their civic responsibility to cast a responsible vote for themselves and for common good. Previously, the secretary for constitutional and mainland affairs of the SAR government also specifically mentioned that civil servants are an important part of the SAR governance system, and should set an example by taking the lead in voting. Hong Kong is currently at a crucial period of accelerating its transition from good governance to prosperity. It is a general consensus in Hong Kong society that the SAR must pull together to boost the economy, accelerate development, improve people's livelihoods, and create new prospects for socioeconomic development and progress. The vast majority of voters, with a strong sense of responsibility for their own and overall interests, definitely will actively participate in the election and cast a responsible vote for the benefits of the SAR, the nation, themselves, their families and the next generation. For sure, the election will bring in Legislative Council members who are more determined patriots, who are more upright and honest with an image of integrity, who are more enthusiastic in serving Hong Kong and its residents, and who will work more diligently in fulfilling their duties. It is also expected that many more young professionals with stronger innovative and creative capabilities will be elected. This is the most genuine, effective and practical democracy that will provide a stronger guarantee for the special administrative region to achieve good governance.
We firmly believe that the path of high-quality democratic development that conforms to the actual situation of Hong Kong will surely become broader and smoother, the success stories of the practice of "one country, two systems" will surely become more and more wonderful, and Hong Kong residents’ well-being will become better and better!
(Source: Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council)
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
