Hong Kong electoral changes: ‘small group of people’ to make up powerful vetting committee
- Chairman of the body will act as tiebreaker in the event of a stalemate over possible hopefuls for the chief executive race, the legislature and the Election Committee that picks the city’s leader
- China’s top legislative body, which is expected to release details of the revamp to Hong Kong’s political system on Tuesday, also appears to favour tougher nomination threshold for Legco
A powerful new committee that will vet candidates for Hong Kong’s most important elections will be kept to fewer than 10 people under a drastic overhaul of the political system by Beijing, the Post has learned.
The committee would have an odd number of people and the chairman would act as the tiebreaker, said a source close to the two days of talks by China’s top legislative body that began in the capital on Monday.
To further ensure only “patriots” were running Hong Kong after the political turmoil of the past few years, the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee was also leaning towards adopting a stringent threshold for nominating candidates for the Legislative Council elections, the insider revealed.
It was understood the hopefuls could be required to secure nominations from all of the Election Committee’s five sectors representing various professions, organisations and sections of society, which would pose a formidable obstacle for the opposition camp in fielding candidates given the new fifth sector was to be filled by Beijing loyalists from “national organisations”.
Under the resolution endorsed by the NPC on March 11, the “candidates’ qualification review committee” would be responsible for ensuring anyone running for chief executive, the Legislative Council or the Election Committee itself posed no threat to national security.
“The gatekeeping vetting committee will be a very small group of people,” the insider said. “The committee will be odd numbered as the chairman will be the tiebreaker.”