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Hong Kong elections reform: why Beijing wants total control in Legislative Council and removal of risk and uncertainty
- Officials are minded to cut the number of directly elected Legco seats from 35 to 20
- Ratio of geographical seats in revamped 90-member legislature expected to be a major issue for discussion by top Beijing official in consultations
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Beijing is inclined to slash the number of directly elected seats in Hong Kong’s legislature from 35 to 20 – the lowest ratio in the city’s election history – to remove “all risk factors” that might allow opposition activists to form a one-third veto bloc in the future, the Post has learned.
The ratio of geographical seats in the revamped 90-member Legislative Council is expected to be one of the major issues to be discussed on Monday when Zhang Xiaoming, deputy director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, kicks off three days of consultative sessions with more than 1,000 business elites, community leaders and pro-establishment politicians.
“It’s expected that Zhang will also remind the pro-Beijing camp not to intensify their notorious infighting, but improve internal coordination under the reform,” a source close to the central government said.
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China’s top legislature on Thursday formally approved the biggest shake-up of Hong Kong’s entire political system, including an expansion of Legco to 90 members from the current 70, with some lawmakers being returned from the Election Committee, which selects the chief executive and is packed with Beijing-friendly members.
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Wang Chen, vice-chairman of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, the country’s top legislative body, had previously hinted the electoral college would pick a “larger proportion” of lawmakers from among its ranks.
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