HKSAR chief executive to table local electoral legislation amendment bill to LegCo next week

HONG KONG -- Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Thursday said that subject to endorsement of the Executive Council, the amendment bill to improve the HKSAR's electoral system will be tabled to the Legislative Council next Wednesday.

Lam said at a LegCo meeting that the bill covers five main ordinances, namely the Chief Executive Election Ordinance, the Legislative Council Ordinance, the Electoral Affairs Commission Ordinance, the District Councils Ordinance, the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance, and relevant subsidiary legislation.

The bill will also revise the date of the LegCo general election, Lam said, adding that the HKSAR government will strive to cooperate with the LegCo's Bills Committees with the deliberation as time is tight.

Lam said that through local legislation, the HKSAR government will define the Election Committee subsectors and the statutory bodies, advisory bodies, relevant bodies of the LegCo functional constituencies and eligible corporate electors.

Boundaries of the directly elected seats of the LegCo's geographical constituency will be reset, methods of nominating candidates, voting methods, composition of the candidate eligibility review committee will also be handled, Lam said.

Meanwhile, the HKSAR government will take measures to deal with election manipulation and sabotage in accordance with the law. After the passage of the bill, preparations for three elections in the coming year will begin immediately, she said.