Hong Kong now has a powerful Election Committee. Will it be a new ‘superstructure’ reshaping city’s political landscape?

Before Beijing’s radical revamp of city’s electoral system, committee was largely a dormant body that stirred to life ahead of chief executive race

Mainland legal expert says body should be given new roles such as monitoring Hong Kong government and legislature

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Government officers transport a ballot box at the polling station in Wan Chai on Sunday. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 2:15pm, 20 Sep 2021Updated: 3:35pm, 20 Sep 2021

Hong Kong’s first Election Committee with newly amassed powers was formally created hours after landmark elections ended on Sunday. The conclusion of the city’s first electoral race under a Beijing-decreed system overhaul set the city on an unprecedented path of living with a powerful, new committee that could reshape Hong Kong’s political landscape.

Apart from choosing the next chief executive and lawmakers, the 1,500-strong committee may take up new roles such as monitoring the city government and offering policy proposals, analysts and a pro-Beijing heavyweight told the Post.

Before Beijing’s radical revamp of the city’s electoral system, the Election Committee was largely a dormant body. It stirred to life with a race to select its members around December of the year before the chief executive election was due. About three months later, around March, it would convene to select the city’s leader in a keenly watched poll. That was the sum of its role.

Now, the committee, which has expanded by 300 seats to further cement the pro-establishment camp’s dominance in the body, has newly enhanced powers to nominate all aspiring lawmakers and send 40 representatives of its own choosing, some or all of whom can be from within its own ranks, to the enlarged 90-seat Legislative Council.

Voters head to the polls at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Photo: Felix Wong

Tian Feilong, an associate professor at Beihang University’s law school in Beijing, said he expected the committee to take up more functions in governance on top of what was stipulated in the resolution endorsed by the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s parliament, in March.

“No institution is more representative than the Election Committee. It should be given new roles like monitoring the Hong Kong government and Legco, as it is tasked to ensure the principle of ‘patriots governing Hong Kong’,” he said in an interview with the Post on Sunday.