China proposes to overhaul Hong Kong’s system of open elections

ELECTORAL PANEL THAT CHOOSES CITY’S LEADER WILL BE REVAMPED

Elections for Hong Kong’s legislature will likely be deferred for a second year to September 2022 as Beijing plans a major overhaul of the city’s electoral system, a severe blow to remaining hopes of democracy in the global financial hub.

The delay, which the South China Morning Post and other local media reported yesterday, citing unnamed sources, would be in line with a new effort by Beijing to ensure “patriots” are in charge of all public institutions in the former British colony.

The National People’s Congress, China’s rubber-stamp parliament, will pass the changes at its annual session which opened yesterday and will last a week.

Senior Chinese lawmaker Wang Zhen said China will change the size, composition, and formation method of an electoral committee that chooses Hong Kong’s leader and give it powers to pick many of the city’s legislators as well.

The changes follow mass antigovernment protests in 2019 and a subsequent crackdown.

Still, Beijing is keen to eliminate any possibility of the opposition affecting the outcome of elections in Hong Kong.

‘Holistic love’

Hong Kong Secretary for Mainland and Constitutional Affairs Erick Tsang has defined patriotism as “holistic love” for China, including the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.

Riding high on the back of the 2019 protests, the democratic camp had some slim hopes of winning an unprecedented legislative majority in 2020 elections, which the government postponed, citing the coronavirus.

But with some political parties disbanding, it is unclear what shape any future opposition will take in Hong Kong and how its message could fit with the patriotic loyalty demanded by the Communist Party.

Beijing had promised universal suffrage as an ultimate goal for Hong Kong in its mini-constitution, the Basic Law.

Local media said the electoral overhaul would include increasing the size of the electoral committee from 1,200 to 1,500, and the city’s legislature from 70 to 90 seats.

Currently half of the 70 seats in the Legislative Council, known as Legco are directly elected, a proportion which will shrink with the extra seats picked by the electoral committee. The other half represents industries, unions, and professions and is largely stacked with pro-Beijing figures.