Hong Kong politics has continued to twist and turn. The resigned legislators were all re-elected. Though the voter turnout was somewhat low, it is not a number which the Government can ignore.
The recent focus of the media and public have been on the Government trying to pass the new constitutional reform proposal through the LEGCO. We were bombarded with ads, and the "Act Now" campaign. More recently was the poorly structured debate between Tsang and Audrey Eu. The two fired questions at one another on the same issues when the debate could have focussed on different issues.
I have doubts about whether Wong Yan Lung should have voiced out his opinions of the political reform policies. Will that rally more public support given his relatively high support amongst the people?
The most current turn of events has been the Government endorsing the Democratic Party's package: it accepts 5 more functional constituency legislators, it would allow ordinary voters to elect those District Council representatives. The party estimates that this would let over 3.1 mil more voters to vote for the seats. Candidates for these seats must be elected, not appointed, and must be appointed by at least 10 district councillors.
The revised proposal has received more support, and may actually successfully gain the required 2/3 of votes from LEGCO. The Civic Party does have a point when they point that the revised package still does not eliminate functional constituencies.
On another note, today I attended a luncheon at the FCC, where Professor Simon Young (Centre for Comparative and Public Law & Barrister) was to launch his new book (with the Civic Exchange) "Electing Hong Kong's Chief Executive in 2012". His speech today took the focus away from functional constituencies to examine electing the CE.
The book suggests that in looking for principles of democracy, the Basic Law provides should be the main guideline(Annex 1). The election committee should be broadly representative. It also recognizes 'principles of democracy'. The Bill of Rights should also be followed in that everyone has the right to vote in a system that is equal and representative. The current system has several contraditions. Firstly, the election committee is exclusive. People such as vets are excluded from having representatives. Secondly, the elections are unequal as sectors who receive more seats are not necessarily higher in the number of electorates. For instance, Agriculture and Fisheries have many more seats than the finance sector.
The Government also fails to explain how the proposed extra seats of the election committee will be elected, and how many people will be electing these committees etc.
The Hong Kong Journal and many online databases will offer a deeper analysis on the constitutional reform.
2010年6月21日 星期一
Constitutional Reforms
2010年6月15日 星期二
2010年2月19日 星期五
Five District Resignation (a follow-up)
The joint Civic Party and the League of Social Democrats released their De Facto Referendum logo yesterday. The logo signified unity to gain 'real universal suffrage'. Today is the deadline date of the Government's consultation on 1)expanding the CE's Election Committee to 1200 members 2) Increasing District and Functional Constituency legislator seats by 5 each.
While I have doubts as to how the Government's proposal is following the 'gradual and orderly process' principle laid down in the Basic Law, I fail to see how the De Facto Referendum assists the process of obtaining better prospects of universal suffrage. Firstly, as a movement seeking public support for 'fighting for real universal suffrage' they had barely asked the electors in their respective districts for opinions on the movement itself. Then, although they make it clear that voting is based on a particular agenda, several problems stem form this. One, electors who vote for them may not only support them based on this issue. Two, those who don't vote for them may not be against a more progressive pace to democracy. Thirdly, of course, the reactions from Beijing.
The efforts that have stemmed from the movement have been encouraging, including an informed debate questionnaire that is currently being carried out (which I heard from the radio). Participants will be directed to hear a thorough debate on the issue before filling in a questionnaire reflectively. It's important to know the argument of both sides.
And to the De Facto Referendum's credit, getting citizens to be more aware of their civil rights is a good first step, as in speaking out against inaction by the Government and half-hearted efforts of the DAB.