Election of the Election Committee for the Chief Executive is set to be held on the 11th of December. From among 1539 registered candidates, 1200 will become members of the Election Committee, which in turn will vote to select the next-term CE in March, 2017.
The representativeness and importance of the Election Committee is beyond doubt. According to Annex I of he Basic Law, the Election Committee consists of 1200 members from four major sectors: the Industrial, commercial and financial; the Professions; the Labour, social services and religious and the Political. They are both voters to select the CE and also the nominators. As such it is not hard to imagine how powerful and heavy their duties are. Therefore, in some sectors, the competition for seats in the Election Committee is no less fierce than in the legislative election.
It is shocking, however, to find that three pro-Hong Kong independence activists are among the candidates for the Election Committee as gazetted. They are members of the "parachute-soldier" organisation: Chan Chak-to and Henry Wong Pak-yu, both running through the information and technology sub-sector; and Chris Lau Yan-chun, a student from the University of Science and Technology running through the tertiary education sub-sector. The three have all publicly advocated for "independence for Hong Kong". When participating in the legislative election Chan Chak-to even openly refused to sign the confirmation form for declaring he would uphold the Basic Law and pledge allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.
That the CE is to be elected by pro-Hong Kong independence activists is something as strange as pigs might fly. And absolutely this is never allowed to happen.
As a matter of fact, the election of the Election Committee itself is a component part of the CE election, instead of a self-existent election. Therefore, no doubt, the requirements and criteria for the election of the Election Committee must be in keeping with those for the CE election. There cannot be two sets of requirements and criteria. In the election of the CE, the primary requirement for a candidate is he or she must love the nation and love Hong Kong, sincerely uphold the Basic Law and pledge his or her allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, and once elected be responsible to the Central People's Government and Hong Kong SAR. The Basic Law opens with Article 1 of Chapter I to stipulate that "The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is an inalienable part of the People's Republic of China." So how can one possibly imagine that a pro-Hong Kong independence member in the Election Committee would ever elect an anti-Hong Kong independence CE?
If such thing is allowed to happen, not only it would become a laughing stock, but the seriousness and legitimacy of the whole CE election would become very problematic. And it is doubtful whether the Central Government would appoint such a CE elected in this way.
This is by no mean an alarmist talk. This is a matter of principle concerning cardinal issues of right and wrong. The CE must be patriotic and must be loyal. Members of the Election Committee must likewise be patriotic and loyal. This is nothing to do with the number of people involved - even the number of pro-Hong Kong independence activists sneaking into the Election Committee is just a handful who can go nowhere, it is still intolerable.
As a matter of fact, the political situation in the SAR now comes to the stage of "fighting for every inch of soil". In face of the upcoming CE election, the opposition and their master(s) behind the scene are fully aware that it is impossible for any member from their camp to become a CE candidate. Hence, competing for seats in the Election Committee becomes their major goal. Right now, the opposition keeps spreading the word that they want to grab 300 or even 400 seats to make sure that Leung Chun-ying, who firmly upholds "one country two systems" and the Basic Law and opposes "independence for Hong Kong", would not be re-elected.
The competition for the CE post is primarily a competition for seats in the Election Committee. The interpretation of the Basic Law by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) days ago has made it clear that no activist for "independence for Hong Kong" is allowed to enter the SAR's governance structure. The government must carefully check on this matter rather than sitting by idly.
25 November 2016
