image source,NurPhoto via Getty Images
The SAR government will “depoliticize” the district councils, take back the power to approve small local projects, and reduce the proportion of directly elected seats to 20%.
After the National People’s Congress of China issued an order to rectify the electoral system of Hong Kong’s chief executive and Legislative Council in 2021, the SAR government has adopted a plan to rectify the local council system. The new district council will be dominated by directly or indirectly appointed members, and only 20% of directly elected seats will be reserved.
Chief Executive Lee Ka-chao on Tuesday (May 2) accused some district councilors of endangering China’s national security, “advocating ‘Hong Kong independence’, encouraging ‘black riots’, and opposing Hong Kong’s “National Security Law”,” and “brutally making acts beyond the district council as a regional advisory organization.” functional matters”. The purpose of rectifying the composition of District Councils is to ensure that the District Councils are “de-politicized”.
After the promulgation of China’s “Hong Kong National Security Law” in June 2020, the SAR Legislative Council passed the “Public Office Amendment Ordinance” in May 2021, requiring current district councilors to swear to “support the “Basic Law” and allegiance to the Hong Kong SAR.” A large number of democrats have resigned, After refusing to take the oath, they were deprived of their seats, or were ruled invalid after taking the oath, resulting in nearly 70% of the seats being vacant.
How does the Li Jiachao government decide to rectify the district council system?
The 18 district councils formed in November 2019 have a total of 479 members. Except for the 27 ex officio members of the nine districts in the New Territories who are chairmen of the rural committees, they are all directly elected by voters. The current term of the District Council will expire on December 31, 2023.
On Tuesday morning, the SAR Executive Council approved the plan for rectifying the District Council and announced it. The new District Council will have 470 members, 27 ex-officio members will be retained, the remaining 40% will be appointed by the chief executive, 40% will be elected by “regional committee sector elections”, and 20% will be returned by local elections.
Among them, the “regional committee sector elections” will be elected by members of the District Fight Crime Committee, Fire Prevention Committee and District Committee, collectively referred to as the “three committees”. The members of the “three committees” are all appointed by the SAR government.
In terms of local elections, the existing 18 districts will not be re-divided immediately, but the constituencies will be reorganized and the “two-seat-one-vote system” will be implemented. Candidates must first be nominated by members of the “Three Councils”.
image source,China News Service
Li Jiachao said that he would “exclude some people who betray the interests of Hong Kong, the interests of the citizens, and the interests of the country” from the district council.
Regardless of the means of participation, a “qualification review” system will be introduced in the selection process of district councilors to confirm the qualifications of councilors. Li Jiachao said the move was aimed at “ensuring national security and fully implementing the principle of ‘patriots governing Hong Kong'”. He also called for ensuring that the new district councils are “depoliticized and reflect executive leadership”.
The chairman of the district council will be elected by members from among the members, and will be replaced by the district affairs commissioner of the SAR government in the district. After that, he will play the role of assisting the government in “taking the pulse of the district” and winning the support of the public for the government. The District Council’s power to approve local small-scale project appropriations and other powers will be fully transferred to the SAR government. The Chief Secretary for Administration of the SAR, Chen Guoji, said that this will prevent the appropriation of funds from being abused by members.
Li Jiachao said that the salary subsidies of district councilors are similar to those in the past, but a “duty performance monitoring system” will be introduced to “investigate district councilors whose behavior does not meet public expectations, and deal with them appropriately according to the severity.” Mai Meijuan, director of the Bureau of Civil Affairs and Youth Affairs of the Special Administrative Region, said that if the sanctioned members are not satisfied, they can appeal to the Chief Secretary for Administration.
These rectifications will have to be implemented by amending existing laws. The Secretary for Justice of the Special Administrative Region, Lawyer Lam Ting-kwok, SC, said that the relevant bill would be submitted to the Legislative Council, but did not specify the specific time.
A reporter asked Li Jiachao why he did not directly abolish direct elections. Li Jiachao emphasized that this rectification is “the improvement of the system” and hopes to recruit talents through “diversification of channels”.
Li Jiachao said: “We used to go the wrong way, so some people who ‘Hong Kong independence’, encourage ‘black violence’, and ‘speculation’ entered the district council. This is an indisputable fact.”
Li Jiachao also told the official China Central Television reporter that this rectification is to “eliminate some people who betray the interests of Hong Kong, the interests of the citizens, and the interests of the country.”
History of Hong Kong District Councils
Pro-CCP pro-establishment camps were alarmed by pro-democracy pro-democracy victories in the 2019 district council elections.
In 1982, the British Hong Kong government established the District Council. At that time, Hong Kong was divided into 18 districts, and the divisions have been slightly changed over the years since then. District councils have no real power and are local administrative consultations. However, after their establishment, they began to select members through elections. Since 1985, the ratio of elected members to government-appointed members has been two to one.
Soon, with the establishment of the Regional Municipal Council in the New Territories, which was in line with the Municipal Councils of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, British Hong Kong formed a three-level parliamentary structure of Legislative Council-Urban Council-District Council. After the transfer of power in 1997, the Tung Chee-hwa government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China “killed the bureau” and abolished the Municipal Council at the end of 1999. In 2008, the Tsang Yam-kuen government delegated the power of approving small municipal construction projects to the district councils. In 2016, the Leung Chun-ying government abolished it. Government-appointed seats, except for the ex officio seats in the New Territories, are all directly elected.
Prior to this, district councilors had the right to stand for election to the election committee in accordance with the “Hong Kong Basic Law” and exert influence on the election of the chief executive. In 2012, the election system of the Legislative Council of the Special Administrative Region was reorganized, and seats commonly known as “super district councillors” were established, allowing the majority of Hong Kong voters to vote for five district councilors to concurrently serve as members of the Legislative Council. The real power of district councilors has reached its peak.
In the 2019 district council elections, the democrats won more than two-thirds of the seats, and 17 of the 18 district councils were led by the democrats. During the national “two sessions” in March 2021, the National People’s Congress of China passed the “Decision on Improving the Electoral System of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region”, abolishing all seats of the District Council in the Legislative Council and the Election Committee.
In May 2021, the Legislative Council passed the “Public Office Amendment Ordinance”, requiring the district councilors who have taken office to take an oath to “uphold the “Basic Law” and pledge allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region”. The “Negative Behavior List” determines whether the sworn members have engaged in activities that violate the “Hong Kong National Security Law” such as advocating “Hong Kong independence” and seeking foreign interference in Hong Kong affairs, and then declare their oaths invalid. Once it is ruled that the oath is invalid, the member will not only be stripped of his seat, but also banned from standing for election for five years.
In the end, more than 200 district councilors resigned before being summoned to take the oath, and 56 people were deprived of their seats because the oath was ruled invalid or they refused to take the oath.