Alliance offers pragmatic 2016 plan
Pan-democrats put forward mixed approach for Legco poll with functional constituency seats cut
The number of Legislative Council seats returned by functional constituencies should be reduced in 2016 if the trade-based seats are not dumped by then.
According to a document seen yesterday by the , the alliance wants some seats returned by a single-seat, single-vote system for the 2020 Legco poll. The rest would be decided by voters under the proportional representation system, with the whole city as one constituency.
All eligible voters would get two votes in Legco polls under the proposed mixed system. But it does not spell out the proportion of seats to be returned by the two electoral methods.
The alliance is due to unveil its proposed blueprint for the 2016 and 2020 Legco elections today.
For the 2016 poll, it suggests merging some functional constituencies while boosting the number of directly elected seats. It also wants the separate voting arrangement - in which bills and motions need majority support from functional constituencies and directly elected lawmakers - scrapped after the 2016 poll.
The plan will be put out for public consultation.
Meanwhile, former chief secretary Anson Chan Fang On-sang has called for district councillors and other key groups to be given a bigger voice on the committee that nominates chief executive contenders, should Beijing insist on retaining it. The four main sectors that make up the Election Committee that chose the chief executive last year - themselves made up of numerous sub-sectors - have enjoyed equal power since the handover. In last year's poll each held 300 votes.
Chan, who chairs the moderate pan-democratic group Hong Kong 2020, called for more consideration of how to improve the electoral method in 2017. That's if Beijing shows no interest in adopting the pan-democrats' plan for the nominating body to be expanded to include the city's 3.2 million-strong electorate.
Chan described as positive a remark from Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Raymond Tam Chi-yuen on Monday that the existing nomination committee would not be a prerequisite to the reforms for the 2017 poll. Chan has already met Tam for discussion.
Separately, Hang Lung Properties chairman Ronnie Chan Chi-chung said Hongkongers should be able to enjoy "one person, one vote", with the functional consistencies retained as a balance. The lack of such a balance was a flaw in Western democracies, he said. He also lashed out at Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah for being "a big sinner" for allowing Hong Kong to sit on huge of fiscal reserves without spending it appropriately.
