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BEIJING: China’s parliament is considering changes to Hong Kong’s electoral committee, which selects the city’s leader, as well as granting him new powers to nominate and elect candidates for the city legislature, a senior parliament official said Friday (March 5th).
The size, composition and formation method of the Hong Kong panel would be “adjusted and improved,” said Wang Chen, vice chairman of the standing committee of the Chinese parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC).
Wang was commenting on a draft decision by the parliament to change the electoral system in the Asian financial center at the opening of the NPC’s annual session on Friday, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.
The electoral committee will be given new powers to elect a “relatively large” portion of the Legislative Council (LegCo) members and to nominate all candidates for the LegCo, Wang said.
READ: Hong Kong drafts ‘patriotic’ oath for local councils, Beijing wants loyalists to be in charge
Chinese state media have published editorials in recent weeks saying “electoral loopholes” will be plugged, while officials have said that only “staunch patriots” – those loyal to the ruling Communist Party – should participate in Hong Kong’s government. Kong.
Currently, half of LegCo’s 70 members are directly elected through geographic constituencies, while the other half are indirectly elected through groups representing industries, unions, and the professions.
Wang said that the Hong Kong chief executive will continue to be elected by the electoral committee. This is currently his only role.
