Alliance proposes 2 rounds of voting
Democracy advocates say head-to-head final poll could give winner a bigger mandate and avoid an extremist candidate being elected
A two-round voting system, aimed at preventing the election of extremist candidates, should be introduced for the 2017 chief executive election, say the pan-democrats - and it appears to have given pro-establishment politicians food for thought.
The Alliance for True Democracy - a grouping of 26 of the 27 pan-democrat lawmakers - has come up with the proposal that it says would give the winner a stronger mandate.
Under the two-round system, only a candidate who wins more than half the valid votes in the first round of the election can be declared chief executive straight away.
If no candidate receives more than half of the votes, the top two candidates will enter the second round, with the one who gains the most votes winning.
Under a one-round election system, leaders can be elected on a relatively small amount of votes. In the 2000 Taiwan presidential election, the controversial Democratic Progressive Party leader Chen Shui-bian won under a one-round system with 39.3 per cent of valid votes, compared with nearly 60 per cent clinched by his rivals James Soong and Lien Chan.
Dr Chan Kin-man, a Chinese University sociology professor and a core organiser of the Occupy Central movement for full democracy, favoured the two-round system, saying it could prevent the election of an extremist candidate.
Federation of Trade Unions lawmaker Wong Kwok-kin said the two-round idea was feasible and worth consideration. "This is a neutral suggestion, and the [voting system] is not bound by the Basic Law framework," he said.
"The chief executive-elect would enjoy greater political power if they could secure at least half of the votes."
Pro-establishment lawmaker and legal scholar Priscilla Leung Mei-fun agreed a two-round system could increase the chief executive's legitimacy, but said she had no preference right now.
Ip Kwok-him, of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, had reservations, especially without knowing whether the number of candidates would be capped.
"The two-round voting system is not as simple as it seems," Ip said. "It involves much preparation and extra resources as two voting days are needed."
He added: "If there are only three candidates put forward by the nominating committee, a two-round voting system is definitely not needed.
"But if there are seven, the candidate who won might receive only 10 to 20 per cent of votes … it would be hard not to vote twice to increase the legitimacy of the elected."
