Legislative process for HK electoral system reform officially launches

With China’s top legislature officially introducing reform of Hong Kong electoral system into this year’s two sessions agenda, the central government’s advisors forecast that a detailed plan for overhauling the local electoral system would take effect in a very short period, giving fundamental support for the election in the second half of 2021, and bringing local governance into a new era.

China officially launched its legislative process for electoral system reform in Hong Kong, the top legislature confirmed on Thursday. In tackling exposed loopholes in the city’s political system, top Chinese policymakers came up with two major steps in introducing the Hong Kong- related laws – the national security law and electoral reform legislature within a year, which fundamentally changes the rules of the political game in sweeping out the anti- China figures and some backed by Western forces, helping patriots hold power firmly, experts said.

The official agenda of the fourth annual session of the 13th National People’s Congress ( NPC) for this year’s two sessions was officially unveiled on Thursday night, which includes highly anticipated political reform for Hong Kong with the aim of fixing deep- rooted loopholes in the current political system and meeting the fundamental requirements of patriots governing Hong Kong.

The fourth annual session of the 13th NPC will kick off on Friday and conclude on March 11.

Based on the recent situation in

Hong Kong, the city’s electoral system needs to move with the times, Zhang Yesui, spokesperson of the fourth annual session of the NPC, said at the first press conference of the NPC on Thursday night.

To improve the HK electoral system is the power and the responsibility of the NPC on the constitutional level, the spokesperson said.

The procedures of rectifying the law and authorizing local authorities to implement detail reform measures won’t take long, which will probably be done within one or two months, as the LegCo election is scheduled in September, according to some legal experts.

It took about one month for the top legislature to approve the decision of improving the legal system to safeguard national security in Hong Kong, as the national security law for Hong Kong was enacted on June 30, 2020.

On whether the imminent reform plan would follow suit of the enactment of the national security law for Hong Kong, Lau Siu- kai, vice- president of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, told the Global Times that the reform plan would be led by the central authority, which has been fully authorized by the Constitution in terms of full- scale governance over Hong Kong.

The NPC would adopt a decision to authorize the NPC Standing Committee to formulate a detailed reform plan, and in line with the plan, local authorities in Hong Kong will rectify relevant election laws to implement those plans. “The whole process won’t take very long,” Lau said.

Albert Chen, a member of the Basic Law Committee, also told the Global Times on Thursday that if the draft decision is approved by the NPC, the NPC Standing Committee will handle the matter in the next one to two months, coming up with a detailed reform plan.

Then, the HKSAR government will take several months to rectify a series of election laws before delivering them to be adopted by LegCo, he said.

A new era

Ahead of this year’s two sessions, top Chinese policymakers on Hong Kong held two seminars within one week, delivering messages about the importance of the political reforms for Hong Kong, listening to public opinion from Hong Kong society regarding the reforms and highlighting the urgency and necessity of conducting such changes.

Wang Yang, chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, said during the opening session of the fourth session of the 13th National Committee of the CPPCC on Thursday afternoon that the CPPCC resolutely supports the principle of patriots governing Hong Kong in 2021.

Some observers made a metaphor regarding these two major Hong Kong- related legislative steps: the national security law for Hong Kong helped build up a fence for safeguarding national security and electoral reform makes sure the power of authority is firmly held by patriots, which both further consolidate the fundamentals of “one country, two systems.”

It also fundamentally changes the long- term rules of the political game in Hong Kong, quickly squeezing room for those anti- China figures who make trouble in the city, toward which Western forces would also reduce their reliance and expectations on, Lau said.