One cleric's view: religious bodies should give up role in Hong Kong leadership election

Hong Kong's Protestant churches "could give up" their 10 seats on the committee that elects the city's leader as it was "unfair" for people to get extra representation because of their faith, a heavyweight among the city's Christian churches has said.

However, the Reverend Yuen Tin-yau, chairman of the Christian Council, was alone among clerics of the city's six major religions, as leaders of the Muslim, Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian communities said their seats on the 1,200-strong Election Committee should not be scrapped.

Cardinal John Tong Hon, bishop of the Hong Kong diocese, hinted that the Catholics' 10 seats should be retained.

In a written reply to a Post inquiry, Tong said: "We encourage our lay people to play an active role in politics in order to promote democracy and the well-being of society. With regard to the Election Committee, the role of the diocese is just to verify the Catholic identity of those who wish to fill the 10 seats."

The committee, which elected Leung Chun-ying as chief executive in 2012, comprises four sectors - business, professional, social and political - divided into 38 subsectors. The religious subsector occupies 60 seats evenly distributed among the six religious groups, but the representatives are appointed or approved by leaders, not elected.

Political scientists have questioned the mandate of the committee as most of its members - all except the religious subsector and 70 ex-officio Legislative Council members - are elected by just 250,000 people, less than 10 per cent of the city's electorate.