The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, today (April 8) met with Hong Kong members of national organisations at two briefing sessions to continue to explain the improvements to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's electoral system. The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, also attended one of the briefing sessions, during which she addressed the questions raised by participants.
Mr Cheung stressed that the amendment of Annex I and Annex II to the Basic Law approved by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress has significant and far-reaching meaning. Apart from the resolute, full and faithful implementation of "one country, two systems", ensuring the implementation of the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong" and safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests, it also allows the political system of Hong Kong to gain a foothold at a new starting point, driving constitutional development to new heights and opening up new horizons for Hong Kong.
Mr Cheung reiterated that the Election Committee (EC) is the core element of the improvements to the electoral system. The membership of the EC is being enlarged to 1 500 in five sectors. The EC will not only nominate and elect the Chief Executive, but also be endowed with the new function of nominating candidates for the Legislative Council election and electing some of the legislators, which is conducive to enhancing and ensuring the balanced and orderly political participation of the community. All in all, the enlarged EC will cover more representatives from different sectors and all walks of life, better representing the overall and fundamental interests of society.
He encouraged participants to brief people in different sectors of the community on the improvements to the electoral system to deepen their understanding of the new electoral system as well as its necessity and urgency.
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