If 'one person, two votes' works for five seats in the Legislative Council, why not for more?
That's the message from business leader and government adviser Anthony Wu Ting-yuk. He believes the formula incorporated in electoral reforms for 2012 at the Democratic Party's behest, and which Legco approved on Friday, can have a far-reaching impact.
Speaking hours after that historic vote, Wu, recently elected chairman of the influential Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, said the formula could be applied to the Legco seats representing business interests.
The measure approved on Friday means a special interest group, in this case district councillors, nominates candidates that the wider public - those 3.2 million voters without a vote in a functional constituency - then elects. If adopted widely for functional constituencies, it would greatly increase their electorates but entrench the grip of traditional business interests on these seats.
The advocates of the formula 'have great wisdom', said Wu, who also heads the Bauhinia Foundation Research Centre think tank - seen as close to Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen.
Wu's is the first indication the business community could accept an extension of the 'one person, two votes' model to more of Legco's trade-based seats, which have small electorates - fewer than 230,000 people are eligible to vote in them.
