Hong Kong Chief Secretary for Administration Rafael Hui announced on Wednesday the Fifth Report of the Constitutional Development Task Force at the Legislative Council (LegCo).

The report contains a package of proposals on methods for selecting the Chief Executive in 2007 and for forming the Legislative Council in 2008.

On the method for selecting the Chief Executive in 2007, the Task Force suggested to increase the number of members of the Election Committee for selecting the Chief Executive from the present 800 to 1,600.

Hui explained that the number of Election Committee members in the First, Second and Third Sectors to be increased from 200 to 300 respectively and the number of Election Committee members in the Fourth Sector to be increased from 200 to 700, mainly by including all (appointed, exofficio and elected members) District Council members.

The Task Force suggested that the threshold for nominating candidates to be maintained at the ratio of one-eighth of total membership.

On the method for forming LegCo in 2008, the Task Force suggested that the number of LegCo seats to be increased from 60 to 70. The number of seats returned by geographical constituencies through direct elections and that returned by functional constituencies will respectively be increased to 35.

The Chief Secretary for Administration said, to ensure that the proposed package is firmly grounded on public views, the Task Force has published four reports since its establishment in January 2004, to collect widely and openly and in several stages views from different sectors of the community. He stressed that "the work of the Task Force can be said to be highly transparent."

The Chief Secretary for Administration said, the main thrust of the proposed package is the enhanced level of participation of District Council members in the Election Committee and the Legislative Council.

He said half of the newly added members of the Election Committee and all the newly added LegCo seats will basically be directly or indirectly elected by over 3 million voters in Hong Kong through geographical constituencies. They have a broad electorate and can greatly enhance the democratic representation in the two electoral methods. Furthermore, close to 60 percent of the seats in the fourth term LegCo will be returned by geographical constituencies.

Hui said the existing District Council members come from different strata and sectors of the community. Around one-fourth are from the industrial and commercial sectors, around one-fifth are from the professional and managerial ranks, whilst the others include personalities from the education, social work, sports and cultural sectors, representatives of trade unions, housewives, and representatives of rural communities.

He added that the background of District Council members can be said to be a microcosm of the community at large. It epitomizes the spirit of "balanced participation" and gives full effect to the principle of "looking after the interests of different sectorsof the community".

The Task Force has commissioned the Central Policy Unit to conduct an independent opinion poll to ascertain the level of public support for the main elements of the package. The poll was conducted by an independent opinion survey agency. The results suggest that the proposed package has won the support of the majority of the public, he added. 

He believed that the package of proposals put forth by the Task Force on Wednesday has struck the right balance amidst the various views submitted by different sectors of the community and has responded to the aspirations of the community on constitutional development. It should be acceptable to the community at large.

He hoped that the proposed package will have the support of legislators so that Hong Kong's constitutional development can move forward.

The Task Force firmly believes that the proposed package can provide more room and opportunities for the public to participate in the elections of the Chief Executive and LegCo broaden the representatives of the two electoral methods, and take forward Hong Kong's constitutional development substantively towards the ultimate aim of universal suffrage, and is consistent with the Basic Law and the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress made on April 26, 2004, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency October 19, 2005)