Way forward
Hong Kong needs a “blue ribbon” commission to discuss question of the 2017 CE Election via universal suffrage.
The Hong Kong Basic Law stipulates that the ultimate aim is to elect the Chief Executive (CE) and the Legislative Council (LegCo) by universal suffrage, in the light of the actual situation of Hong Kong and in accordance with the principle of gradual and orderly progress. The decision of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) on Dec 29, 2007 has set a clear timetable, enabling the election of the CE by universal suffrage in 2017 and of LegCo in 2020.
It is up to Hong Kong to propose collectively a method of election that is in accordance with the Basic Law and the relevant decisions and interpretations of the NPCSC. Hong Kong people must seize this opportunity and not let it slip. Since the timetable provides for the election of the CE by universal suffrage to happen before that of LegCo, this article is focused on the CE election.
There are many diverse views on how to proceed. But first, Hong Kong people must be able to achieve a substantive consensus on the method of election of the CE. The proposed method of election must have the support of two-thirds of the members of LegCo before it can be considered for approval by the NPC. And in order for Hong Kong people to arrive at a consensus, compromise is inevitable. No one person or group will be able to have everything his, her, or its way entirely. But compromise is not easy, especially for politicians who always need to keep an eye on how they can enhance their own chances of election or re-election.
On highly contentious and potentially divisive issues, many countries make use of a “blue ribbon” commission, consisting of an appointed group of senior distinguished citizens, to investigate, study and analyze the issue, and to form a recommendation. A recent example is the US National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform created in 2010 by President Barack Obama. Thus, one way for Hong Kong to proceed is for the government to appoint a blue ribbon commission of distinguished and experienced long-time citizens of Hong Kong to study the entire question of the election of the CE via universal suffrage carefully and comprehensively, and to come up with a recommendation for the method of election that is in the long-term best interests of Hong Kong and acceptable to the largest number of Hong Kong people.
The members of the blue ribbon commission should consist of Chinese citizens of Hong Kong who have made major contributions to Hong Kong in the past — men and women who consider Hong Kong as their permanent home, who are committed to Hong Kong, who have unimpeachable personal integrity, who do not aspire to more power or wealth, and who are completely above the political fray. These are people whom the public can trust.
The members of the blue ribbon commission must consider the long-term governance and governability of Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region of China under the “One Country, Two Systems” framework. They should look beyond just the election of 2017, taking care to assure the future welfare of Hong Kong people. In particular, they should try to propose institutional arrangements that will assure the political and social stability of Hong Kong even with the possibility of hotly contested elections in the future.
There are many difficult choices to be evaluated and made by this blue-ribbon commission. For example, the Basic Law provides for a nomination committee to nominate the potential candidates in the election of the CE. Whatever our feelings about the appropriateness of the nomination committee, if universal suffrage were to move forward, any method proposed must comply with the Basic Law, which means that we must accept the requirement that the candidates will have to be nominated by a nominating committee. For another example, the commission needs to propose criteria for the qualification of the potential elector in such an election, such as nationality. Yet another example is the eligibility requirements for the CE candidates. All of these questions are better analyzed and debated by members of a commission that have no direct interests themselves.
This blue ribbon commission should devote its attention exclusively to the question of the election of the CE in 2017 via universal suffrage. It should not be concerned with either the 2016 LegCo election or the 2020 LegCo election, not because these other elections are unimportant, but because they are very different in nature and including them will needlessly further complicate an already complicated problem.
After the blue ribbon commission has had chance to do its work, it will submit its recommendations in a commission report, which can then be used as a basis for public consultations.