Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Method to Choose the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government
The formula for choosing the first government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) has begun.
The Preparatory Committee for the HKSAR has passed a resolution on how to choose the people who will organise the HKSAR's first government.
Accordingly to the National People's Congress, the HKSAR's Selection Committee should be composed of 400 permanent Hong Kong residents from four sectors: industrial, commercial and financial; professional; labour, social services and religious; and original political departments, Hong Kong deputies to the National People's Congress, as well as Hong Kong members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Each sector will comprise 100 Selection Committee members.
Under the formula, the 300 members of the Selection Committee from the first three sectors will be elected by all members of the Preparatory Committee, and the number of candidates will be 20 percent more than the number of seats.
Those from the first three sectors who want to be involved in the selection must first submit his name to an organisation/association he is a member of or an organisation/association of his (except political organisations) sector and profession. After the applications are reviewed by the relevant organisations/associations, they can be nominated to the Preparatory Committee.
The list of nominations will be edited by the Secretariat of the Preparatory Committee after September 30, 1996, the closing date for entering names. The list will then be given to all members of the Preparatory Committee to solicit opinions.
The Preparatory Committee members can give their comments or opinions on the list of candidates for the Selection Committee according to the nomination. After that at the directors' meeting of the Preparatory Committee, names are put forward as candidates, after fully considering the opinions of the Preparatory Committee members.
On the method of the election, all members of the Preparatory Committee can vote for members of every sector of the Selection Committee. The ballots will be anonymous. Those who win the most votes will be elected.
Twenty-six Hong Kong deputies to the National People's Congress, who are permanent Hong Kong residents, will be members of the Selection Committee without election.
The number of members of the Selection Committee from the original political personages will be 40. There will be 34 representatives of the Hong Kong members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
According to the proposal, those belonging to the fourth sector, who intend to take part in the Selection Committee, can enter their names to the organisations of their own sector, or organisations/associations of other sectors. They can be nominated to the Preparatory Committee after relevant organisations review their applications. They can also be nominated by five Preparatory Committee members.
However, Preparatory Committee members cannot nominate more than three Selection Committee members. Nominations and elections in the fourth sector will be the same as in the first three sectors.
People belonging to more than one sector can take part in the election in only one sector. The election of the 400 Selection Committee members will be held in October 1996.