Legitimate initiative

According to the draft decision, the improvements to Hong Kong's electoral system will be made via a two-step approach－the NPC will first make a decision, and then its Standing Committee will amend Annex I and Annex II of the HKSAR Basic Law to amend the relevant parts of the city's electoral system.

Fan stressed that it is the responsibility of the NPC, the top organ of State power, to ensure that Hong Kong's electoral system will work for the city's stability and prosperity, and that the Basic Law and "one country, two systems" are properly implemented in Hong Kong as originally intended.

She endorsed the NPC to take the initiative to help the city resolve longstanding flaws in its electoral system, adding that it was difficult for Hong Kong to handle this on its own.

Fan noted that "under the realities in Hong Kong", it was hard for an amendment to Annex I and Annex II of the Basic Law to be passed in the local legislature due to obstruction by opposition lawmakers, and that after their mass resignation, the proposal technically cannot win a two-thirds majority in the legislature.

She said it has been universal practice for countries and regions to adjust their electoral systems over time, according to their actual situations.

For example, in the United States, the House of Representatives passed a bill last week to introduce measures to reform the electoral system, including modernizing the country's voting systems.

Hong Kong's electoral system has also been improved on several occasions to keep pace with the times. The committee electing the chief executive has been expanded twice since Hong Kong returned to the motherland in 1997, with the number of members being raised from the original 400 to 1,200.

Elsie Leung Oi-sie, Hong Kong's former secretary for justice and former deputy director of the Hong Kong Basic Law Committee of the NPC Standing Committee, said the proposal conforms with the HKSAR's Basic Law. This stipulates that the region's electoral system should be gradually improved in light of the actual situation.

She said that in view of the series of social disturbances and the increasingly complex international environment, Hong Kong faces a great risk of being exploited as a base for subversion to harm the nation's interests. The NPC took this into account.

She thinks the current peaceful situation in Hong Kong is only temporary. If deficiencies in the city's electoral system remain unchecked, the violence may return after the pandemic is controlled. Such a resurgence would be fatal for Hong Kong, she said.

Under such circumstances, it is natural and imperative to amend the electoral system to ensure Hong Kong's administrative power does not fall into the hands of mobsters, she added.