Hong Kong: Chinese parliament backs plan to ‘improve’ elections

Hong Kong: Chinese parliament backs plan to ‘improve’ elections

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Members of the National People’s Congress in Beijing voted 2,895 in favor of the proposal, with no votes against and one against.

The implementation of the ‘draft decision’ was considered inevitable after the Chinese government announced plans to revamp Hong Kong’s electoral system earlier this month. Votes at the NPC are largely considered ceremonial, and it is not known whether parliament is voting against legislation tabled by the country’s leaders.

The stated goal of the draft amendments, which came on the closing day of the annual meeting, is to ensure that only ‘patriots’ rule Hong Kong, a definition made clear by Chinese officials not only requires loyalty to the country, but also loyalty to the country. the Communist Party.

“When we talk about patriotism, we are not talking about the abstraction of the love of a cultural or historical China, but rather about the current existing People’s Republic of China under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party,” said Song Ru’an, deputy commissioner of The Chinese Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong, the reporters said in an information session on the law change this week.

“Patriots must respect the Chinese Communist Party,” he added.

The decision contains a plan to change the size and composition of the city’s legislature, which will increase the number of seats from 70 to 90, which will reduce the overall percentage of democratically elected officials.

The Electoral Commission, an institution currently responsible for electing the city’s chief executive, will be expanded from 1,200 to 1,500 members and given the power to nominate candidates for the legislature, as well as the power to approx. appoint a third of the members. body’s seats. The remaining third will be taken by so-called functional constituencies, which are selected by trade and industry bodies.

NPC spokesman Zhang Yesui said last week that the 2019 unrest, during which Hong Kong was rocked by often violent anti-government protests, “showed that the electoral system needs to improve” to ensure that “patriots rule.”

In the wake of the unrest, candidates for democracy have achieved a major shift in local elections, and are expected to build on this achievement in the September 2020 parliamentary elections.

However, the election was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the government has meanwhile proceeded to prosecute dozens of prominent pro-democracy politicians for taking part in a primary vote leading up to the original election date.

Prosecutors claim the opposition aimed to win enough seats to block the government’s budget and possibly force the chief executive to resign, a plan that was previously in line with the city’s constitution but has since been seen as contrary to a national security law passed by the city last year through Beijing.

If they avoid the possible decade or more in jail that the law offers to those convicted of ‘undermining’, the activists and former prosecutors who are being prosecuted will probably find it difficult to bring politics back under the new requirements. feed.

Already last year, several candidates were blocked by returning officials from holding office, based on a alleged lack of patriotism or alleged violation of the National Security Act, which also criminalized ‘secession’ and ‘collusion with foreign forces’.

During the week, Carrie Lam, Hong Kong leader, said that “there is no so-called international standard of democracy. Every democracy must look at the right context of that particular country, or that particular place.”

“We are improving the electoral system by making sure that whoever rules and governs Hong Kong in the future is someone who loves the country, who loves Hong Kong,” she added.

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