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Publicise nominators, says committee member

Making public the names of those who nominate the chief executive candidates would make the selection fairer, said Preparatory Committee member Maria Tam Wai-chu.

'We need to be on guard against the whole election process being conducted in an overly relaxed atmosphere so that those who wish to misbehave do not feel there is any deterrence to their doing so,' she said.

'The names of the 50 nominators should be made public and none should fear reprisal if the candidate one supports does not win the election,' she said on RTHK's Letter to Hong Kong.

Each candidate needs to be nominated by at least 50 members of the Selection Committee. The nominees are then voted on by all 400 members.

This was just one of the four unresolved issues regarding the selection, she said.

The second was the lack of limits on campaign expenditure.

'It would help if there is a set budget and every cent spent on a campaign is accountable,' he said.

The third issue was declaration of business interests. The public and the voters had the right to know about the candidates' business associations.

Article 47 of the Basic Law says that when the chief executive takes office, he or she must declare his assets to the chief justice of the Final Court of Appeal.

'It would be fairer to the Selection Committee members if they know about the candidates' business interests and how they should deal with it while in office,' she said.

Ms Tam said it would also be made clear whether the chief executive would be allowed to take a job in the private sector immediately after his term finished. She suggested a 'freeze period' - now sometimes necessary for senior civil servants - might be needed.

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