China News Service, Beijing, May 28 (Li Xuefeng) The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Legislative Council passed the "Improvement of the Electoral System (Comprehensive Amendment) Bill 2021" on the 27th in the third reading.
Mainland scholars told a reporter from China News Agency on the 28th that the new electoral system will ensure that "patriots govern Hong Kong", which is conducive to the normal operation and effective governance of the Hong Kong SAR government.
Chen Duanhong, a professor at Peking University Law School, said that the improvement of Hong Kong’s electoral system was able to complete the local legislative procedures in a timely, accurate and comprehensive manner, which shows that the efforts to bring chaos in the past two years are necessary and effective, and that Hong Kong’s political structure has basically returned to its normal track. This indicates that Hong Kong's democratic system will enter a new stage of development.
Under the new election system, the number of seats in the Legislative Council will be increased from 70 to 90, and a Candidate Qualification Review Committee will be established to review and confirm the qualifications of candidates for the Election Committee, candidates for the Chief Executive, and candidates for the Legislative Council .
In this regard, Chen Duanhong believes that after the implementation of the new electoral system, it will be difficult for anti-China chaos in Hong Kong to enter the room. The Legislative Council has vowed that farce will not be repeated, and there will not be a phenomenon in which anti-China chaos in Hong Kong used the SAR political arena to make unreasonable trouble and confront the central government , To avoid a serious political crisis.
Li Xiaobing, executive director of the Taiwan-Hong Kong-Macao Law Research Center of Nankai University Law School, also said that Hong Kong has had political chaos such as the “rabbit” of the Legislative Council for many years, and the Legislative Council and the SAR government have been unable to cooperate effectively.
Some radical political forces have turned the Legislative Council into a venue for political performances full of conflicts, and many important issues such as economics and people's livelihood cannot be reviewed normally.
The establishment of the qualification review committee will act as a "safety valve" to ensure the construction of a governance team with patriots as the mainstay.
He said that promoting rational communication and benign interaction between the members of the Legislative Council and the SAR government, and realizing an administrative-led political system, is the proper meaning of the perfection of the electoral system this time.
It not only solves the problems existing in the original voting process, but also focuses on the qualification of electors, and more closely links the normal operation and effective governance of the SAR government after the election.
The political and social elites in Hong Kong are looking forward to improving the electoral system, and all sectors of society also give positive comments.
Chen Duanhong believes that the new electoral system is the political system that best reflects the characteristics of Hong Kong as an international metropolis, and it is also the system that best represents the overall interests of Hong Kong.
He also pointed out that the vitality of the law lies in its implementation, and the next step should be to focus on several elections.
Regarding the improvement of Hong Kong’s electoral system, which has also attracted overseas attention, Chen Duanhong proposed that it is necessary to be prepared for international public opinion, and the actual effects of the new electoral system can be used to prove the scientific nature of this amendment and its positive effect on Hong Kong. (Finish)