Rita Fan: district councilors should not be in the CE election committee

Former Legislative Council president Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai told Beijing officials district councilors should be barred from the committee electing the city’s Chief Executive, to be replaced by Hong Kong delegates to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

The five “super seats” in the Legislative Council limited to district councilors should be canceled.She also proposed to break up Legco constituencies into smaller districts, doubling the five geographical constituencies to 10, where the two candidates getting the most number of votes in each constituency to be elected. 

Speaking in a two-day symposium in Shenzhen where Beijing gauge views over imminent electoral reforms in Hong Kong, the former National People's Congress standing committee member said the district council was "not organs of political power", thus they should not hold one hundred or so seats in the selection of the Chief Executive, as well as the five "super seats" in the functional constituency of the LegCo.

"Given that it is not an organ of political power, according to the legislative intent of Basic Law, I think district councilors should not be in the Chief Executive election committee. The five "super seats" offered to district councilors to enter the LegCo should also be canceled," she said.

Fan suggested that the 117 positions occupied by district councilors should be replaced by local delegates to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top advisory body.

She also proposed to split up the current five geographical constituencies of the LegCo election into ten smaller areas, and stop using the proportional representation system. Instead, the two candidates who earn the most votes in each district get the seat. 

LegCo candidates must also obtain nominations from the Chief Executive election committee members. 

"We initially use the proportional representation system as we want to include views from the different spectrum, and even small parties can have representatives," Fan said. "However, after such a long time, we found that many of those who hold a small proportion of less than ten percent of votes to enter the council are relatively extreme, radical, and lesser-known."

According to Xinhua news agency, the symposium aimed at listening to opinions from representatives from all walks of life of Hong Kong on reforming the city's electoral system and laying down the standard of "patriots ruling Hong Kong." 

Those who attended included the State Council's director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, Xia Baolong, Deputy Director of the Office Zhang Xiaoming, Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government Luo Huining, and Director of the Office for Safeguarding National Security of CPG in HKSAR Zheng Yanxiong.

Shiu Sin-por, former head of the Central Policy Unit who also attended the forum, said the opposition power was no longer a resistance since the enactment of the national security law. He said the Chinese government should be more careful and not overreact.