"Patriot Party": Hong Kong District Council Reform in 2023

background

On July 6, 2023, the Hong Kong Legislative Council passed the District Councils (Amendment) Ordinance 2023 on the third reading. Among the 89 people present, 88 voted in favor, and no one objected or abstained. Passed unanimously. [1] This shows that all electoral systems in Hong Kong have finally completed reforms in the post-National Security Law era. This day marks that Hong Kong has officially separated from the era of "liberal autocracy" [2] in all electoral systems. This district council reform is undoubtedly the "major reform" since the handover of Hong Kong's sovereignty in 1997, further reaching the point of being "only for patriots" in district councils.

Introduction

In the summer of 2019, Hong Kong’s amendments to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance triggered a large-scale anti-extradition movement. China’s final solution was to forcibly enact the Hong Kong National Security Law and This law from Beijing should be included in Annex III of the Hong Kong Basic Law. On March 11, 2021, the National People's Congress of China (NPC) officially adopted the "Decision of the National People's Congress on Improving the Electoral System of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region", and on March 30, 2021, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China (NPCSC) revised Annex 1 of the Hong Kong Basic Law: Methods for Selection of the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and Annex 2 of the Hong Kong Basic Law: Methods for Selection and Voting Procedures of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. This changed the election system of Hong Kong's Chief Executive and Legislative Council members and added more miscellaneous requirements. The Hong Kong government also followed up on Beijing's newly revised Annexes 1 and 2 of the "Hong Kong Basic Law". Two weeks later, on April 2021 On May 14, the Hong Kong government submitted the " Improving the Electoral System (Comprehensive Amendment) Bill 2021 " to the Legislative Council, which was officially passed by the Legislative Council on May 27 and gazetted on May 31. The two most important electoral system reforms in Hong Kong (the election of the Chief Executive and the election of Legislative Council members) have finally completed the revision of local legislation, allowing the Chief Executive and Legislative Council members (especially the latter) to ensure "patriotism and love for Hong Kong" and strive to achieve "patriotic "Governing Hong Kong" - this principle comes from Beijing. However, in view of the pan-democratic victory in the district council elections in 2019, in order to ensure that this "loophole" that was not conducive to "patriots governing Hong Kong" was completely filled, the Hong Kong government finally reached out to the district councils. On May 2, 2023, the Hong Kong government announced the "Recommended Plan for Improving District Governance", which recommended "reshaping district councils" and "strengthening district governance structures." District council reform was officially put on the agenda. In the past, almost all members were directly elected by voters. The life of the District Council has entered a countdown.

A district council with a name but no real power

District Councils of Hong Kong, founded in 1982, are local councils and regional organizations at the regional level in Hong Kong, providing advice to the government on citizens' daily life affairs. At present, each of the 18 districts in Hong Kong has its own district council, with a total of 479 district council seats (sixth term). Each district council has a four-year term.

The functions of the District Council of a local administrative district (relevant area) are as follows:

(1) Accept government consultation on regional affairs that affect the livelihood, living environment and well-being of people in the relevant area;
(2) Collect opinions from people in the relevant area on issues specified by the chairman of the district council, and submit a summary of the opinions and suggested response plans to the government;
(3) Establish a regular liaison mechanism with people in the relevant areas, meet with them regularly and listen to their opinions;
(4) Support and assist in the promotion of laws and government policies in relevant regions, and assist the government in conducting various consultation, publicity and liaison activities such as regional consultation meetings;
(5) Under the coordination of the government, assist in the smooth provision of cultural, recreational, environmental sanitation and other services related to the interests of people in the relevant areas;
(6) Apply for funding funding for projects and activities related to the functions of the District Council, such as -
(i) Projects and activities aimed at promoting sports, arts and culture;
(ii) Regional events and celebrations; and
(iii) Greening and volunteer work;
(7) Provide services to people in relevant areas, such as consultation and case referral services;
(8) Under the coordination of the government, cooperate with other consulting and service organizations in the relevant area to achieve the best results in providing services to people in the relevant area; and (9) Undertake other matters entrusted by the government from time to time. [3]

According to the functions of District Councils stipulated by law, Hong Kong District Councils have very little power. Not only do they have no legislative power, but on May 2, 2023, the Hong Kong government even announced that the reformed District Councils will no longer have management or appropriation approval functions. To "comply with executive leadership", "effectively prevent some district councilors from abusing relevant powers to obstruct government administration." [4] Since the establishment of the district council, its role has been to serve as an advisory body to the Hong Kong government (the British Hong Kong government and the SAR government), let alone Reformed District Council in 2023.

Composition and emergence of parliamentarians

In this article, we try to compare the composition of the sixth District Council members (term: January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2023) with the composition of the seventh District Council members (that is, what will be after the District Council reform in 2023). The composition of the new generation of MPs is compared. We will draw up a table for comparison:

Note: (1) District committee sector elections are elected by unanimous votes from the district committees, district fight crime committees and district fire safety committees (district three committees). Candidates are allowed to be from non-district three committees. (2) The ex-officio members are served by the chairpersons of the rural committees of the 27 villages in the New Territories of Hong Kong. They are also ex-officio executive members of the Heung Yee Kuk. (3) Appointed members are appointed by the Chief Executive and do not need to go through an election. [5]

With the help of the table above, we can clearly discover the changes in the composition of the district council members in the 2023 district council reform:

1. The number of directly elected members has been greatly reduced, from 452 to 88.

2. New members from the regional committee sector have been added, accounting for about 37% of all members.

3. Restart the mechanism of government-appointed members (on May 22, 2013, the Hong Kong Legislative Council passed the "District Council (Amendment) Bill 2013" and canceled all appointed seats when the new District Council was formed in January 2016). The number of people accounts for the largest proportion, about 38%.

At the same time, the electoral mechanism has also changed from a single-member district system to a two-seat single-vote system, that is, instead of electing one district council member in each district, one member will be elected in each district. Two District Council members, the two candidates with the highest number of votes and the second-highest number of votes in each District Council local constituency, will be elected from the election.

redistricting

In the past, the Hong Kong District Council constituencies were numerous and divided between them. However, this time the Hong Kong District Council was "majorly reformed" and the directly elected seats were greatly reduced, and the constituencies were also reduced. We continue to compare with the sixth District Council election, from 452 geographical constituencies in the sixth Hong Kong District Council election in 2019 to 44 geographical constituencies. The area of ​​each constituency has undoubtedly been "expanded" on a large scale.

The 44 geographical constituencies redrawn are:

Central and Western District: (A1: Central District A2: Western District)
Wan Chai District: (B1: Wan Chai)
Eastern District: (C1: Taipei, C2: Hong Wan, C3: Chai Wan)
Southern District: (D1: Southeast of Southern District D2: Northwest of Southern District)
Yau Tsim Mong District: (E1: Yau Tsim Mong South E2: Yau Tsim Mong North)
Sham Shui Po District: (F1: Sham Shui Po West F2: Sham Shui Po East)
Kowloon City District: (G1: Kowloon City North G2: Kowloon City South)
Wong Tai Sin District: (H1: Wong Tai Sin East H2: Wong Tai Sin West)
Kwun Tong District: (J1: Kwun Tong Southeast J2: Kwun Tong Central J3: Kwun Tong North J4: Kwun Tong West)
Tsuen Wan District: (K1: Northwest of Tsuen Wan K2: Southeast of Tsuen Wan)
Tuen Mun District: (L1: Tuen Mun East L2: Tuen Mun West L3: Tuen Mun North)
Yuen Long District: (M1: Yuen Long City Center M2: Yuen Long Rural East M3: Tin Shui Wai South and Ping Ha M4: Tin Shui Wai North)
North District: (N1: Butterfly Mountain N2: Honghualing)
Dabu District: (P1: Dabu South P2: Dabu North)
Sai Kung District: (Q1: Sai Kung and Hang Hau Q2: Tseung Kwan O South Q3: Tseung Kwan O North)
Sha Tin District: (R1: Sha Tin West R2: Sha Tin East R3: Sha Tin South R4: Sha Tin North)
Kwai Tsing District: (S1: Tsing Yi S2: Kwai Chung East S3: Kwai Chung West)
Island area: (T1: Islands)

We can compare it with the picture below. The geographical constituencies in the 2019 District Council elections can be said to be small but numerous.

Due to space limitations, we will not list the geographical constituencies of the Hong Kong District Council elections in detail in 2019. Based on the above two figures, we can more intuitively see the changes in the division of district council constituencies in 2023. The expansion of constituencies will lead to a corresponding increase in voters, which will increase the pressure on candidates to "fall off the streets" to some extent. Candidates will also spend more election funds and resources in promoting political platforms and distributing election advertisements.

"Gateway" requirements and review mechanism

In the last (sixth) District Council election, the nomination of District Council member candidates (direct elections) only required:

Signed by 10 registered electors (other than candidates) for the constituency concerned, and the number of persons who may sign as nominees on a nomination form shall not exceed 20. [6]

However, in the 2023 District Council election, the nomination of District Council member candidates (direct elections) requires:

At least 50 but not more than 100 electors (other than candidates) in the local council constituency sign their consent to the nomination, and at least 3 but not more than 6 electors (candidates) in each district committee[7] in the local administrative area sign Others) sign to express their agreement to the nomination. [8]

The new candidates for district council members in the district committee sector in 2023 also require:

At least 3 but not more than 6 voters (other than candidates) from each regional committee 21 of the local administrative area sign to express their approval of the nomination. [9]

We can observe that after the reform, the requirements for "admission" of candidates for District Council members have been greatly improved, and the number of required voter nominations has been increased to at least 50. In fact, what is more difficult to obtain is "each district committee in the local administrative district" At least 3 but no more than 6 voters (other than candidates) sign to express their agreement to the nomination." Michael Tien Pauk-sun, convener of the Roundtable, once complained to Sing Tao Daily:

"It is extremely difficult for party members who plan to run for election to find nominations for members of the "Three Congresses". There is no way to start. Most party members cannot find a nomination ticket. It is even more difficult to find nominations than when he ran for the Legislative Council and the National People's Congress of Hong Kong. It means higher." [10]

Tian Beichen also criticized:

"More than 200 members of the three committees turned down the door or refused to listen to the political platform, betraying their responsibilities as nominees." [11]

Coincidentally, Hong Kong's centrist political parties Path of Democracy and Third Side have also encountered obstacles. Only one candidate from Path of Democracy has successfully entered the gate [12] , while New Side originally planned to send three party members to participate. Constituency Council, but none of them received enough nominations from the "three committees", so they had to announce that they would not run for election. [13]

As for the review mechanism, it will undoubtedly be more stringent and complex in the new District Council elections in 2023. The Hong Kong government has newly established the District Council Eligibility Review Committee. Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has appointed Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki as chairman of the District Council Eligibility Review Committee. The Committee Members include three official members and three non-official members. The official members are: Erick Tsang Kwok-wai (Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs), Chris Tang Ping-keung (Secretary for Security), Alice Mak Mei-kuen (Secretary for Home Affairs and Youth Affairs); the non-official members are: Maria Tam Wai-chu, Wong Yuk-shan, Mok Shu-lian Johnny Mok Shue-lin. The functions of this committee are:

1. To examine and confirm persons recommended for appointment as members, persons registered as ex-officio members and persons nominated as candidates;

2. Whether the above three types of persons comply with the Basic Law of Hong Kong and whether they are loyal to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China shall be consulted with the Committee for the Maintenance of National Security (CSNS) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. If the CSNS gives an opinion, the Qualification Review Committee shall make a decision based on the opinion. ; [14]

Based on the above, we can clearly follow this trend. The Hong Kong government has done its best to "check every layer" of the new district council members. From the initial "entry" to the final review, the whole process seems to be " "Big waves wash away the sand" to ensure the greatest political loyalty of the new District Council members who will be elected.

Other miscellaneous reforms

The Hong Kong government has also introduced a new mechanism for monitoring the performance of district councils. Secretary for Home Affairs and Youth Affairs, Mak Mei-kuen, said:

(Introducing a mechanism for monitoring the performance of district council duties) has strengthened the power of citizens. He pointed out that in the past, some council members "opened offices but did not start work." In the future, citizens can monitor through the mechanism, describing "the citizens' voice is louder in this election." Regarding the exercise of voting rights and supervisory rights, "(citizens) say not only during the election, but also after the members take office."

However, the specific plan has not been officially released, but Mai Meijuan revealed:

The duty performance supervision guidelines will be released before the end of the year, that is, before district councilors take office on January 1, and include a list of negative behaviors, including obstructing district councilors from conducting meetings, insulting other councilors or officials, obstructing others from leaving or entering meetings, and failing to declare interests. Etc., we also set requirements at work to give full play to our consulting and service functions. For example, we must open an office, and we cannot "ask an assistant to open letters for me here" as in the past. [15]

On the other hand, perhaps no one would have thought that the position of district council vice-chairman would become a thing of the past, and the previous arrangement of district councilors exchanging district council chairpersons would be cancelled. The Chairman of the District Council becomes the designated Home Affairs Officer, a director-level civil servant, and is given the power to direct the work of the District Council. [16] This change, according to Tam Yiu-chung, secretary-general of the Hong Kong Start Again Alliance: "Having the Home Affairs Commissioner as the chairman is exactly an extension of administrative leadership." [17] Tam Yiu-chung's views represent those of many government officials and the establishment ( The voice of pro-Beijing camp) people. In other words, the Hong Kong government and pro-establishment figures basically believe that this reform (chaired by the Home Affairs Commissioner) is to better reflect the principle of "administrative leadership" and to "depoliticize" the district councils.

in conclusion

The Hong Kong District Council reform in 2023 is undoubtedly the largest and most important District Council reform since the handover of Hong Kong’s sovereignty. Its most significant feature is that it has greatly weakened the democratic component of the District Council. This reform has a lot to do with the implementation of the National Security Law in Hong Kong. There are still pro-democracy members in the District Council, which Beijing cannot tolerate. The District Council elections in Hong Kong are approaching. When we review the list of candidates who have successfully entered the election, we can find that the pro-democracy camp has been completely blocked from the District Council elections. Although the Hong Kong government and the pro-establishment camp are optimistic about this district council reform, it remains to be seen whether the actual governance effect in the next four years will achieve the "perfect regional governance" claimed by the Hong Kong government and the pro-establishment camp. Regarding the concerns of outside observers and the media - whether Hong Kong will continue to accelerate authoritarianization and the integration of China and Hong Kong, it may be difficult for the Hong Kong authorities and the Chinese authorities to provide a convincing response.

References

1. ^ Note: Legislative Council Chairman Leung Kwan-yin did not vote as usual. Hong Kong Wen Wei Po: "The Legislative Council passes the draft amendment to the District Council Ordinance, and citizens praise it for good governance", Hong Kong Wen Wei Po, July 7, 2023 https://www.wenweipo.com/a/202307/07/AP64a75dd1e4b043f3863a5834.html

2. ^ Ma Yue, "Thirty Years of Democratic Movement: The Defense War under Liberal Autocracy", Zheng Wei, Yuan Weixi, eds. An epoch of social movements: the trajectory of contentious politics in Hong Kong Kong. Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, 2018. Ma Yue proposed the concept of "liberal autocracy" to describe Hong Kong's political system before the passage of the Hong Kong National Security Law in 2020.

3. ^ District Councils Ordinance, Chapter 547, Laws of Hong Kong, Part II, 4A.

4. ^ "Chan Kwok-kee chairs the Regional Governance Leading Committee to coordinate regional work of various departments", Radio Television Hong Kong RTHK, May 2, 2023 https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/ch/component/k2/1698819-20230502.htm

5. ^ For detailed provisions, please refer to: Part IV of the District Councils Ordinance, Chapter 547 of the Laws of Hong Kong.

6. ^ See: "District Council Deposits and Signatories Regulations", Chapter 547A of the Laws of Hong Kong, Section 7(1) and (1A). Version date: 20/06/2019

7. ^ If there are 2 or more Area Committees in a local administrative area, the area committees shall be deemed to be 1 area committee in that local administrative area. See: Section 7(3) of the District Council Deposits and Signatories Regulation, Chapter 547, Laws of Hong Kong.

8. ^ See: Chapter 547A of the Laws of Hong Kong: Sections 7(2)(a) and 7(2)(b) of the District Council Deposits and Signatories Regulations.

9. ^ See: Chapter 547A of the Laws of Hong Kong: Section 7(1) of the "District Council Deposits and Signatories Regulations".

10. ^ Lin Jian: "District Council Election︱Tian Beichen: Party members have no way to get nominations for the three conferences, "I am 100 times sadder to vote for the National People's Congress"", Sing Tao Daily, October 18, 2023 https://hd.stheadline.com/ ncov /news-detail.php?y=2023&r=1958424

11. ^ "District Council Election | The Political Roundtable planned to send 5 people to run for the election, but only 1 person was able to nominate Tian Beichen: after 3 people approved the nomination, more than 200 people withdrew the platform and refused to listen to it", Ming Pao, October 30, 2023 https:// news .mingpao.com/ins/%e6%b8%af%e8%81%9e/article/20231030/s00001/1698653664411/%e5%8d%80%e8%ad%b0%e6%9c%83%e9% 81 %b8%e8%88%89-%e5%af%a6%e6%94%bf%e5%9c%93%e6%a1%8c%e6%93%ac%e6%b4%be5%e4%ba % ba%e5%8f%83%e9%81%b8%e7%b5%82%e5%83%851%e4%ba%ba%e5%a4%a0%e6%8f%90%e5%90%8d - %e7%94%b0%e5%8c%97%e8%be%b0-3%e4%ba%ba%e5%85%81%e6%8f%90%e5%90%8d%e5%be% 8c %e6%92%a4%e5%9b%9e-%e9%80%be200%e4%ba%ba%e6%8b%92%e8%81%bd%e6%94%bf%e7%b6%b1

12. ^ "One person each from the practical roundtable and democratic thinking was nominated for the district council election", Radio Television Hong Kong RTHK, October 30, 2023 https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/ch/component/k2/1725676-20231030.htm

13. ^ "District Council Election 2023｜New Thinking failed to obtain enough nomination votes and announced not to run", am730, October 27, 2023 https://www.am730.com.hk/%E6%9C%AC%E5% 9C%B0/%E5%8D%80%E8%AD%B0%E6%9C%83%E9%81%B8%E8%88%892023-%E6%96%B0%E6%80%9D%E7% B6%AD%E6%9C%AA%E8%83%BD%E5%8F%96%E5%BE%97%E6%8F%90%E5%90%8D%E7%A5%A8-%E5%AE %A3%E5%B8%83%E4%B8%8D%E5%8F%83%E9%81%B8/407792?utm_source=yahoorss&utm_medium=referral?utm_source=yahoorss&utm_medium=referral

14. ^ See: Chapter 547 of the Laws of Hong Kong: Part IIIA, Section 10B of the District Councils Ordinance.

15. ^ Chen Jialuo, Li Jianwei: "Exclusive interview with Mai Meijuan | Duty performance supervision guidelines will be released at the end of the year and local offices must be opened to "citizens will say before and after the election"", Sing Tao Daily, November 20, 2023 https://std.stheadline . com/sc/realtime/article/1964678/%E5%8D%B3%E6%99%82-%E6%B8%AF%E8%81%9E-%E9%BA%A5%E7%BE%8E% E5 %A8%9F%E5%B0%88%E8%A8%AA-%E5%B1%A5%E8%81%B7%E7%9B%A3%E5%AF%9F%E6%8C%87%E5 % BC%95%E5%B9%B4%E5%BA%95%E5%87%BA%E7%88%90-%E5%BF%85%E9%A0%88%E9%96%8B%E5% 9C %B0%E8%BE%A6-%E5%B8%82%E6%B0%91%E9%81%B8%E5%89%8D%E9%81%B8%E5%BE%8C%E9%83 %BD%E6%9C%89say

16. ^ See: Chapter 547 of the Laws of Hong Kong: Part VI of the District Councils Ordinance, Sections 62 and 68.

17. ^ Wen Rui and Li Yuting: "District Council Elections | Tam Wai Chu emphasizes administrative leadership and Tam Yiu Chung: resolutely reject unsuitable people", Hong Kong 01, October 31, 2023 https://www.hk01.com/%E6%94%BF% E6%83%85/956881/%E5%8D%80%E8%AD%B0%E6%9C%83%E9%81%B8%E8%88%89-%E8%AD%9A%E6%83% A0%E7%8F%A0%E5%BC%B7%E8%AA%BF%E8%A1%8C%E6%94%BF%E4%B8%BB%E5%B0%8E-%E8%AD%9A %E8%80%80%E5%AE%97-%E5%A0%85%E6%B1%BA%E6%8B%92%E7%B5%95%E4%B8%8D%E5%90%88% E9%81%A9%E8%80%85