On October 30, the nomination period for the 14-day 2021 Hong Kong Legislative Council election officially began. Voting will be held on 19 December, when more than 4.47 million voters will vote to elect a total of 90 MPs from local constituencies, functional constituencies and electoral commission constituencies. As the largest and most participating of the three major elections since the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region improved the electoral system, this Legislative Council election has attracted much attention from all walks of life.
According to the latest information released by the Hong Kong SAR Government, the election officer received a total of 15 nomination forms on the 30th. Lo Wai-kwok, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and a member of the Sixth Hong Kong Legislative Council who has signed up to run for election, said in an interview with Nandu and N video reporters that he will once again participate in the election of the engineering sector, strive for re-election, continue to unite the engineering profession, promote good governance and good governance, revitalize Hong Kong, and open up new opportunities for the upward mobility of the new generation. In addition, the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions sent a total of 9 candidates, including 3 members of the current Legislative Council who are seeking re-election, who expressed their hope to integrate into the overall development of the country through the implementation of various policies.
In March this year, the Southern Metropolis Daily and N Video launched a series of interviews on the principle of "patriots governing Hong Kong" to conduct a series of interviews on how to view and implement this principle, so that the practice of "one country, two systems" in Hong Kong will go more steadily and further in the right direction, so as to maintain Hong Kong's long-term prosperity and stability, and interviewed nearly 20 authoritative figures such as Leung Chun-ying, Fan XuLitai, Chan Margaret Chan, Tam Yiu-chung, Fok Zhen Huan, Huang Yushan, Su Changrong, Wu Qiubei, etc. At the same time, on how to implement the relevant principles, they were given the Hong Kong Economic and Democratic Federation, the DaBSA, the Federation of Trade Unions and the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions. The positive response of institutions such as "Hong Kong Re-departure Grand Alliance" has aroused widespread concern and a large number of reprints at home and abroad.
This is the second major election after the improvement of Hong Kong's electoral system
On 11 March this year, the Fourth Session of the 13th National People's Congress voted to adopt the Decision of the National People's Congress on Improving the Electoral System in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. On March 30, the 27th session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress closed. The meeting adopted by unanimous vote the newly revised "Method for the Selection of the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in Annex I to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China" and the newly revised "Methods and Voting Procedures for the Election of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in Annex II to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China."
On 27 May, the Legislative Council of the HKSAR voted on the third reading to pass the Improvement of the Electoral System (Comprehensive Amendment) Bill 2021. On the 31st of that month, Hong Kong's Improving the Electoral System (Comprehensive Amendment) Ordinance 2021 came into effect. This marks the completion of local legislation to improve the election system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Carrie Lam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, also wrote a statement describing this as a moment of great significance in ensuring that "patriots govern Hong Kong" under "one country, two systems."
Leung Kwan Yan, president of the Sixth Legislative Council of Hong Kong, once said in an exclusive interview with Nandu and N video reporters, "I believe that after improving the election system, the executive and legislative organs can both check and balance each other and cooperate with each other, so that the government and all sectors of society can focus more on dealing with the urgent economic and people's livelihood issues facing Hong Kong."
Liu Zhaojia, vice president of the National Association for the Study of Hong Kong and Macao and professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Chinese of Hong Kong, also said in an exclusive interview with reporters from the Southern Metropolis Daily and N video that after improving the election system, the principle of "patriots governing Hong Kong" has a legal pillar, and anti-China and chaotic Hong Kong elements can no longer enter the legal framework through elections. He pointed out that after improving the election system, The political environment in Hong Kong will certainly improve significantly, and the principle of "administrative leadership" will be better implemented.
After improving the electoral system, Hong Kong will usher in three important elections. Among them, the 2021 General Election of the Hong Kong Election Commission SectorAligers was held on 19 September, and the results were announced the next day, and all 364 of the 13 constituency sub-groups contested by 412 candidates were successfully elected. On the same day, Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said after inspecting the polling station that this is the first election after improving the election system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and implementing the principle of "patriots governing Hong Kong", which will lay a good foundation for the future election of the Legislative Council and the election of the chief executive, and bring a new situation to Hong Kong.
Subsequently, the nomination period for the 2021 Hong Kong Legislative Council re-election began on 30 October and ended on 12 November, and voting will be held on 19 December, which is the second important election after the improvement of Hong Kong's electoral system. In addition, on 22 October, the HKSAR Government also gazetted and announced that the election of the Chief Executive of the HKSAR will be held on 27 March 2022.
On October 30, Lee Wai-chung, chairman of the Hong Kong Democratic Association for the Advancement of Hong Kong (HONG KONG DAB), who has indicated that she will run for re-election in the Legislative Council election, said that this Legislative Council election is an important election after improving the electoral system, which plays a key role in building a good government governance and promoting the development of Hong Kong in stability.
The total number of seats will be increased from the original 70 to 90, which will bring more opportunities for political participation
Nandu reporter noted that according to the "Improvement of the Electoral System (Comprehensive Amendment) Ordinance 2021" (hereinafter referred to as the "Ordinance"), the total number of seats in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong has increased from the original 70 to 90 seats, and the election of members has also been added on the basis of the previous functional sector elections and direct elections for local constituencies. Among them, the members elected by the Election Commission will account for 40 seats, while the number of members elected by functional constituencies and direct elections by local constituencies will be reduced from the original 35 seats to 30 and 20 seats each.
According to the composition and selection method of the Legislative Council introduced by the Election Management Committee of Hong Kong, the constituency seats of the Election Commission will be voted by 1500 members of the Election Commission, and the voting will be "unanimous vote system", that is, each member must vote for no more than and not less than 40 candidates, and the 40 candidates with the largest number of votes will be elected; in terms of local constituencies, the whole Hong Kong will be divided into 10 constituencies, and the voting will be based on the "double seat single vote system", that is, each local constituency has two seats, and each voter only needs to vote for one candidate. The two candidates with the largest number of votes in the local constituency concerned will be elected; the functional constituency will have a total of 30 seats, which will be voted by the authorized representatives of individual voters/group voters in the 28 functional constituencies, using the "election system with the largest number of votes", in addition to the labour sector to elect three MPs, the remaining 27 constituencies will elect one mp each.
It is worth noting that the Ordinance also amends the method of nomination of candidates for election to the Legislative Council.
Under the new electoral system, candidates from local constituencies must be nominated by not less than two and not more than four members from each of the five constituencies of the Electoral Commission, in addition to nominations of not less than 100 and not more than 20 voters in their constituency, and candidates from functional constituencies must also be nominated by not less than two and not more than four members of each of the five constituencies of the Electoral Commission, in addition to nominations of not less than 10 and not more than 20 voters in their constituency As for the electoral commission sector, candidates must be nominated by not less than two and not more than four members of each of the five constituencies of the election commission, and the candidates need not be members of the election committee.
In this regard, Carrie Lam has said that the new election system means that there are more opportunities to participate in politics than before, and she hopes that all aspiring and ambitious people who believe that there is room for improvement in hong Kong's governance efficiency will actively participate in this election. She stressed that as Hong Kong returns to the right track of "one country, two systems", she believes that the new election system will not only ensure that "patriots govern Hong Kong", but also effectively enhance the governance efficiency of the SAR.
Patriots and Hong Kong lovers have sought re-election one after another, looking forward to promoting the governance and rejuvenation of Hong Kong
On October 30, people from all walks of life applied for the election. Among them, Lu Weiguo, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Hong Kong and member of the Sixth Hong Kong Legislative Council, revealed to Nandu and N video reporters that he will once again participate in the election of the engineering sector and strive for re-election. Lo Wei-kwok said that since the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law, Hong Kong has bid farewell to the turbulent situation and realized the transformation from chaos and governance. "The Legislative Council has returned to normal operation, rational governance, and the restoration of positive interaction between the executive and the legislature are positive changes for all to see."
Lu Weiguo.
He hopes that with his many years of professional experience in engineering and his experience in the Legislative Council in the past 9 years, he will strive to continue to serve everyone in the Legislative Council, "supporting engineering, passing on the torch, promoting innovation and technology, protecting the environment, promoting the economy, and benefiting the people's livelihood". He said he looked forward to working together to promote good governance and good governance, revitalize Hong Kong, and open up new opportunities for a new generation of upward mobility.
On October 29, the DAB held a press conference and announced that 18 people would be sent to run, of which Li Huiqiong, the chairman of the DAB, signed up for the regional direct election. Li Huiqiong pointed out at the press conference that with the Hong Kong National Security Law and the improvement of the election system, Hong Kong society is governed by chaos and governance, but the deep-seated contradictions in society still plague the Hong Kong people, so the DAB will put forward ten major election platforms, calling on the society to "innovate and seek the future" together, and jointly promote the government's governance to be more people-oriented, achieve fairness and justice, let the citizens live and work in peace and contentment, and let Hong Kong seize the opportunities of national development and integrate into the overall situation of national development.
Nandu reporter learned that on the 30th, Wu Qiubei, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, also signed up to participate in the direct election of the Legislative Council. He said that after more than 20 years of political internal friction, black riots and epidemics, Hong Kong is about to usher in a new era. It is reported that the Federation of Trade Unions put forward "strive for justice, common prosperity, innovation bureau, and go forward together" as the campaign slogan, and sent a total of 9 people to run, including 3 members of the current Legislative Council who are seeking re-election, hoping to solve deep-seated problems such as housing, employment, medical care, and the disparity between the rich and the poor, and integrate into the overall situation of national development through the implementation of Hong Kong's various policies.
When reviewing the work of the Legislative Council in the past 5 years to Nandu and N video reporters, He Junyao, a member of the Sixth Hong Kong Legislative Council, said that he had been in a confused state for the first 4 years because of the chaos in Hong Kong legislators who continued to sabotage the legislative council agenda. "It was only after the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law and the improvement of the SAR election system in the HONG KONG SAR that I concentrated on completing the legislative work that had not been completed in the previous four years in the last year, which shows that determination and direction are the most important factors."
Producer: Nandu Instant
Written by: Trainee reporter Weng Anqi Nandu reporter Yu Yijing