Date set for first district council election after 'patriots' revamp

The first district council election after a revamp slashing directly elected seats will be held on December 10, the government has announced.

The nomination period will run from October 17 to October 30, with details to be announced later.

The Legislative Council earlier this month passed a bill to reduce the directly elected council seats to 20 percent with 88 seats.

A total of 176 councilors, representing 40 percent, will be selected through indirect elections from three district committees. And 179 government-appointed councilors will take up the remaining 40 percent.

The indirect District Committees constituency election and the direct district council geographical constituency election will also be held on December 10.

District council hopefuls will have to pass the vetting and nomination processes before they can run for election, according to the bill.

"The seventh-term district councils will strictly adhere to the positioning under the Basic Law to carry out advisory and services functions, duly contribute to the government's district governance work and effectively respond to the expectations of the public," a government spokesman said.

"The government also encourages individuals with talents and aspirations, who are patriots and have an affection for Hong Kong, to serve the community by actively participating in the election."

Lawmakers from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong yesterday reiterated their support.

DAB lawmaker Brave Chan Yung hoped the upcoming election could proceed smoothly to implement the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong."

He said: "We hope the revamped councilor election could result in the emergence of dedicated district councilors who genuinely serve the public."

He noted the DAB had previously proposed various suggestions on how to optimize election arrangements and expected the authority to implement them.

"The government could start from the easier ones, such as shortening the voting time, simplifying the declaration of election advertisements and facilitating the declaration of election activities," Chan said.

Party colleague Holden Chow Ho-ding said: "The announcement of the election date represents a new stage in local governance as the SAR also enters a new phase of the improvement of the electoral system."

Nixie Lam Lam backed the reduction of constituency number from over 450 to 44 larger ones, saying: "I think the current electoral district delimitation could help councilors to provide better services to the members of the public."

The DAB also supported the decision to hold the indirect election from district committees and the direct election on the same day, saying it will "contribute to creating an election atmosphere, facilitating citizen's voting and reducing administrative costs."