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Letter to Tung Chee-hwa on Suggestions for Voting System for the First Legislative Council in 1998
11 June, 1997
Mr Tung Chee-hwa
Chief Executive Designate
Office of the HKSAR Chief Executive Designate
7th Floor
Asia-Pacific Finance Tower
Citibank Plaza
3 Garden Road
Central
Hong Kong
Dear Mr Tung,
On behalf of the Hong Kong Democratic Foundation I wish to present our suggestions for the voting system to be adopted for the directly elected geographic constituencies and alternative Functional Constituencies to replace the nine new Functional Constituencies introduced in the 1995 Legislative Council (LegCo) elections, in respect of the First Legislative Council of the Hong Kong SAR to be elected in 1998.
In our proposals we make references to the 1991 LegCo elections. We use these elections as a benchmark because all legislation concerning electoral provisions enacted since then is being rescinded. Therefore the legislation for that set of elections becomes the natural starting point for any discussion on theissue.
1. Voting Method
1.1 The HKDF recommends
the implementation of some system of
Proportional Representation (PR) in the Directly Elected
geographic
constituencies (Des), preferably the Single Transferable vote
(STV)
system as used in Ireland, where voters would simply number
their
ballot paper in order of preference, with their second and
subsequent
preferences only being counted when their earlier preferred
candidates have either been elected or eliminated.
1.2 The purpose of STV
is to eliminate the inherent unfairness of the "X"
vote, or "First-Past-The-Post" (FPTP) system which enables
a
candidate to secure election by only needing to gain one more
vote
than his nearest rival.
1.3 The advantage claimed
for STV is that it maximizes the voter's choice
while preserving the optimum balance between parties,
accountability
and proportionality.
1.4 The results of the
1991 DE to the LegCo, with the United Democrats
of Hong Kong securing 67% of the seats with only 45% of the vote
and the independent candidates securing only 17% of the seats
with
28% of the vote, demonstrates how the FPTP system can distort
voter preference in favour of large parties and against the interest
of
smaller groups or independent candidates.
1.4.1 In the 1995 DE to the LegCo, the
Democratic Alliance for the
Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) secured 40% or more of the vote
in several constituencies, yet failed to win DE
representation.
1.4.2 Similarly, gross distortion can occur,
for example, in a single vote
system with constituencies of four or five seats. Conceivably, in a
five
constituency four seat per constituency system there would be a
Democratic Party and a DAB legislator returned, as they would be
likely to secure more than 80% of the votes in each constituency
in
aggregate and the remaining two legislators would be elected
sharing
20% or less of the total vote between them. The disproportionality
of
this system would be reflected in the LegCo as a whole, where
the
Democratic Party and DAB would have a total of ten legislators,
whereas from a percentage of votes cast they would have deserved
an aggregate sixteen seats. The other 20% of the votes would
have
secured the remaining 10 seats, 50% of total seats.
1.5 We have previously been
advised by the renowned United Kingdom
based Electoral Reform Society, which has been accorded
Non-Governmental Organization status by the United Nations, that
even under a two seat constituency system for DE candidates to
the
LegCo, it would be possible to implement the STV system, though
three or four seat constituencies would be preferable.
1.5.1 We therefore recommend that there be
ten DE constituencies, each
consisting of two seats and returning candidates using the STV
voting
system, for the first LegCo of the HK SAR.
1.5.2 The 1991 DE constituency size varied
from 794,000 for the largest
(Island East) to 392,400 for the smallest (NT North), but with
each
constituency returning two members to the LegCo.
1.5.3 Based on the 9 constituencies at
that time, the average constituency
size should have been a population of 645,000, but only 2 of
these
constituencies had populations that were within plus or minus 10%
of
this average figure. The voters in the largest constituency, which
had
a population 23.2% above the average, were therefore
significantly
under-represented and the voters in the smallest constituency,
which
had a population of 39.2% below the average, were very much
over-represented in the LegCo.
1.5.4 A variance of 10% from the average
size of constituency seems to be
a quite widely held parameter in other countries and the HKDF
recommends that this be adopted for the LegCo DE constituencies
in
future.
1.6 As the number of
directly elected seats are due to increase to 24 in the
second LegCo of the Hong Kong SAR and 30 in the third LegCo of
the Hong Kong SAR, with the expectation that all 60 seats could
be
returned by direct election by the time of the fourth LegCo of
the
Hong Kong SAR, this offers an opportunity for a progression from
10
two seat DE constituencies to ultimately either 15 four seat or 20
three
seat DE constituencies, returning candidate using the STV voting
system and thus providing a high level of proportionality in
representation in the LegCo.
1.7 Of the 82 popularly
elected chambers of legislative assemblies
monitored by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, 28 use the STV
version
of proportional representation and 5 use the other of the two
most
popular proportional representation systems, the party list
system.
1.8 An argument that is
frequently raised against the introduction of any
system of proportional representation is that it has a tendency to
result
in an inability to produce stable governments, with post World War
II
Italy being cited as an example of this. However, since the Hong
Kong system of Government is to continue to be an Executive-lead
system in which the Legislative cannot produce a governing party
or
coalition, this particular issue has no place in the present
discussion.
1.9 As a second
preference the HKDF would be prepared to support the
introduction of the "Party List" system of proportional
representation
voting for the Des, though this system would, for all practical
purposes exclude independent candidates from standing for
election
and possibly small political parties as well, which is why it is not
our
first preference for a PR system.
1.10 Should a voting system of
multi-seat single vote constituencies
be introduced for the Des, which the HKDF does not favour at
all,
we would most strongly recommend that the constituency size be
limited to 2 seats, otherwise there is a distinct danger with larger
seat
constituencies that this evolves into a system of
disproportional
representation, as illustrated in paragraph 1.4.1 above.
2. Replacement of the Additional 9 Functional Constituency Seats
Introduced
in the 1995 LegCo
2.1 Although the HKDF is
against the Functional Constituency (FC)
system as a matter of principle, we recognize the reality of the
situation
that these may have to continue for a period of time.
2.2 In view of this, it is
imperative that these be made as democratic as
possible and be subject to a common set of electoral rules and
regulations.
2.3 Experience during the 1991
FC electronics has shown that the most
serious drawback of functional representation is the ability under
the
rules then applicable for the election process to be manipulated
in
those constituencies where the electorate consists of
organizations
rather than individuals.
2.3.1There was manipulation in some FC
constituencies whereby internal
maneuvering over a period of years by insider cliques had
virtually
eliminated the necessary to fill governing body vacancies by way
of
competitive election.
2.4 The HKDF agrees with the
ERS that it is inconsistent to have detailed
regulations for the Des, but only minimal control of the FC
elections.
Therefore the obvious course is to bring the two into line as far
as
possible by establishing a set of regulations applicable to all
FCs,
which the HKDF recommends should include:
2.4.1A common closing date of registration
of voters, both individual and
corporate for all FCs, three months prior to the election date
and
before the opening of the period of registration of
candidates.
2.4.2Membership of a body entitled to be
included in the following FCs can
only be held by an organization, holding a valid Business
Registration
Certificate and not be an individual:
Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce
Federation of Hong Kong Industries
Chinese Manufacturers Association
Chinese General Chamber of Commerce
Real Estate & Construction
Finance
Financial Services
Tourism
2.4.3An organization entitled to vote in the
FCs listed in 4.4.2 must be
conducting an active business. Evidence of this should be the
provision
of a Certificate from the Inland Revenue Department that the
organization has submitted a Profits Tax return for the most
recent
complete financial year prior to the election.
2.4.4The proviso that a candidate for
election to an FC must be a valid
member of a constituent body, in the case of FCs where
membership
is through individuals, or the principal or employee of a valid
member,
where membership is corporate.
2.4.5For corporate membership FCs, a
membership can only registered as
a voter after completing a three year, fully paid up qualifying
period
and where individual membership is concerned, qualification to vote
is
seven years aggregate residence in Hong Kong.
2.4.6Proxy and postal voting should not be
allowed for the FC elections for
the time being, on the same basis as the (HKDF) has recommended
against this for the Des (17.1) and only an authorized member of
the
organization concerned, where this is a corporation, should be
allowed
to cast a vote.
2.4.7An official register of votes,
available for public inspection before the
registration period for candidates begins.
2.4.8All bodies that are members of an FC
must have their internal
regulations for the qualification to vote, nomination of
candidates,
voting procedures and publication of poll results approved by
the
Election Commissioner (EC), to ensure a uniform standard.
2.5 Those who are members of FCs as
individuals should only be allowed
to vote in either the FC or the DE elections, not in both.
2.5.1Such individuals must elect which of
the two they will participate in
three months before the earlier of the two elections.
2.6. Membership of the Social
Services Functional Constituency should be
open to all social workers, who have been qualified for a
minimum
two year period.
2.7 The HKDF recommends that
for future elections for the Labour
Functional Constituency individual Trade Union members be
enfranchised. This could enable a broader mix of Trade Union
opinion
to be represented in the LegCo than might be possible if the
franchise
was left with the Trade Union organizations.
2.8 The HKDF recommends that the
replacement for the 9 additional
Functional Constituency (FC) seats introduced for the 1995 LegCo
be
drawn from the 10 proposed FCs comprising a total of 12 seats,
detailed below, all of which we believe conform to the following
criteria:
(1) FCs should be substantial and of importance in the
community
(2) Any new FC should be clearly defined to avoid
difficulties
over who qualifies for inclusion and how the electorate is
prescribed
(3) Constituencies should not be based on ideology, dogma
or
religion
(4) Particular groups or bodies should not be represented in
more
than one FC
2.8.1 Additional Teaching FC (for the
tertiary education sector)
The qualification to be an elector for this seat should be full or
part
time teaching employment in one of the following
organization:
Hong Kong University
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong University of Science & Technology
Hong Kong Baptist College
Hong Kong Polytechnic
City Polytechnic
Open Learning Institute
Lingnan College
Shue Yan College
Colleges of Education
Grantham College
Northcote College
Sir Robert Black College
Hong Kong Technical Teachers College
Institute of Language in Education
Vocational Training Council Technical Institutes
2.8.2 Three additional FC Seats for Labour
Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions
Government Employee Unions/Associations
Non-Affiliated Trade Unions
The qualification to be an elector for these three FCs would be
the same as for the present two Labour FC seats.
From the information we have been able to research union
membership and affiliation as at the end of 1991 was as
follows:
Trade Union
Group
No
of
Total
Member
Membership
Unions
Hong Kong Federation of Trade
Unions
84
176100
Hong Kong & Kowloon trade Union Council
69
30600
Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions
22
78500
The Joint Organization of Unions, Hong Kong
19
12200
Hong Kong Trade Union Education Center
14
63100
Federation of Hong Kong & Kowloon
Labour
Unions
19
24200
Unaffiliated
Unions
242
85000
Government Employee Unions/Associations
160
98000
2.8.3 Environment FC
The following are the bodies we recommend be entitled to qualify
for
membership of this FC:
Friends of the Earth
Conservancy Association
Green Power
World Wide Fund for Nature
Lantau Association
Lamma Island Conservancy Society
Private Sector Committee on the Environment
Center for Environment Technology
Qualification as an elector in this FC would be membership of
the
Governing and Standing or Sub-Committees of these
organizations
and employment on a full or part-time basis as a professional
member
of the staff of any of these organizations.
We also recommend consideration be given to include the
following
as members of this FC:
Commercial organizations principally involved in environment
activities Individuals not covered by any of the above
membership
criteria but involved professionally on a full or part-time basis
in
environmental work
2.8.4 Culture & Environment FC
Composition of this FC would be in line with the proposal made
to
the Legislative Council Select committee on the 1995 Legislative
Council Elections and should comprise the following
occupations:
Dance
Dramatic Arts
Music
Visual Arts
Writing
Arts/Cultural Administration
Technical Arts (Theater) voting eligibility will be for
individuals
employed in this sector who meet the professional or work
qualification and active employment criteria to be
determined.
It is estimated the total number of eligible voters for this FC will
be
over 13500, based on the following qualification criteria
Dance
Occupation: dancers, dance artistic directors,
choreographers,
danceaccompanists and dance teachers
Qualification: A) relevant recognized professional
qualification
OR
B) relevant recognized professional experience
AND are:
1) employed full-time in a registered dance
company and dance school in Hong Kong
OR
2) active in a professional dance capacity in Hong
Kong
Dramatic Arts
Occupation: actors, playwrights and directors
Qualification: A) relevant recognized professional
qualification
OR
B) relevant recognized professional experience
AND are:
1) employed full-time in a professional dramatic
arts organization in Hong Kong
OR
2) active in a professional dramatics arts capacity
in Hong Kong
OR
3) employed full-time as educators in dramatic arts
in post-secondary educational institutions in
Hong Kong
Music
Occupation: musicians, arrangers, composers,
conductors,
lyricists and music teachers
Qualification: A) relevant recognized professional
qualification
OR
B) relevant recognized professional experience
AND are:
1) employed full-time in a music-related
organizations in Hong Kong
OR
2) active in a professional capacity in Hong Kong
Visual Arts
Occupation: artists and designers in the following
fields:
Calligraphy
Ceramics
Computer Art
Design
Drawing
Film Art
Installation Art
Mixed Media
Painting
Performance Art
Photography
Print~making
Sculpture
Vide Art
Qualification: A) relevant recognized professional
qualification
OR
B) relevant recognized professional experience
AND are:
1) employed full-time in visual arts-related
organizations and making contribution to arts
and culture in Hong Kong
OR
2) active in a professional visual arts capacity and
making contribution to the arts and culture in
Hong Kong
OR
3) employed full-time as educator in visual arts in
post-secondary educational institutions in Hong
Kong
Writing
Occupation: writers and editors
Qualification: with relevant recognized professional
experience
AND are:
1) employed full-time as an editor in Hong Kong:
for the arts and culture section for a
news-paper, periodical or publishing house
OR
2) active as a professional writer in Hong Kong
Arts/Culture Administrator
Occupation: Arts/cultural administrators
Qualification: A) relevant recognized professional
qualification
OR
B) relevant recognized professional experience
AND are:
1) employed full-time in an administrative position
in am arts/cultural organizations in Hong Kong
OR
2) active in a professional arts/cultural
administration capacity in Hong Kong
OR
3) employed full-time as educators in arts/cultural
administration in post-secondary educational
institutions in Hong Kong
Technical Arts (Theatre & Film)
Occupation: Theatre & film production managers,
stage
managers, technical managers, theatre technicians,
film technicians, stage designers, set designers,
costume designers, lighting designers, sound
designers, hair dressers and other roles in
production theatre & film
Qualification: A) relevant recognized professional
qualification
OR
B) relevant recognized professional experience
AND are:
1) employed full-time in performance venues or
performing arts organizations in Hong Kong
OR
2) active in a professional technical arts capacity in
Hong Kong
OR
3) employed full-time as educators in technical arts
in post-secondary educational institutions in
Hong Kong
2.8.5 FC for those Employed in the Care of the Disabled & Handicapped
As the
disabled and handicapped themselves could not be considered to
meet the
qualifications under the criteria which we recommend be used
to define an
FC, we are proposing that membership of this FC be
allocated to
those with relevant professional qualifications or suitable
employment
status who are involved in a full or part-time capacity in the
care of the
disabled and handicapped.
2.8.6 Information Technology FC
It is
proposed the following organizations constitute this FC:
The Hong Kong Computer Society
The Hong Kong Association for Computer Education
The British Computer Society (Hong Kong Section)
These bodies
all have well defined and stringent rules for admission to
membership,
based on professional qualifications and relevant
experience that
would make suitable FC voter qualification criteria.
The
electorate for the FC would be individual based and it is
estimated
the eligible
electorate would be around 2600.
The HKDF
suggests that the following additional organizations also be
considered for
admission to this EC, subject to the adequacy of their
membership
qualifications:
The Hong Kong Association of EDP Auditors
The Hong Kong Information Technology Federation
The Hong Kong Management Association ED Management Club
& IT Committee
The Hong Kong Telecommunications Association
The IEEE Computer Society
The Hong Kong Association of Medical Informatics
The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers Software
Engineering
Section
2.8.7 Retailers FC
This FC
would comprise the members of the following two trade
organizations:
The Association of Retailers & Tourism Services
The Retail Management Association
There are
nearly 59000 retail establishments in Hong Kong and at the
present time
the membership of the two organizations is as follows:
The Association of Retailers & Tourism
Services
967
The Retail Management
Association
108
The
electorate would be on the same basis as proposed by the
Government for
the existing FCs with corporate membership, so would
number in
excess of 5000.
2.8.8 Human Resources Practitioners
FC
The proposed
membership of this FC would comprise the following
organizations:
The Hong Kong Institute of Personnel Management
The Hong Kong Society for Training & Development
The Hong Kong Industrial Relations Association
It is
envisaged that the electorate of the FC would be voting members
of
the above
organizations. The total voting membership of these is ver
2000
individuals, who are required to have at least 5 years of practice
in
the Human
Resources field and to be in current employment as a Human
Resources
practitioner.
Human
Resources practitioners consider they have significant expertise
in respect of
Human Rights, Environment, Medical & Health, Social
Welfare,
Housing and
Transport
issues in addition to their core practice of personnel
management
and could provide a key link between the conflicting
interests of
management and labour.
2.8.9 Maritime FC
Membership
of this FC would probably comprise organization such as:
Institute of Seatransport Ltd
Nautical Institute (Hong Kong Branch)
Hong Kong Institute of Marine Technology
Hong Kong Joint Branch of the Institute of Engineers & the
Royal
Institute of Naval Architecture
Marine Officers Association
Marine Department professional Officers Association
Merchant Navy Officers Guild - Hong Kong
Hong Kong Marine Radio Officers Society
Hong Kong Pilots Association
Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (Hong Kong Branch)
Salvage Association (Hong Kong Office)
Marine Association of Hong Kong
Hong Kong Association of Freight Forwarding Agents Ltd
Hong Kong Shipowners Association
Hong Kong Shippers Council
Shippers Association of Hong Kong
Hong Kong Liner Shipping Association
The
electorate would be a mixture of individual members, from those
organizations
with a membership comprising individuals and corporate
members from
those organizations comprising companies only.
Individual
members entitled to vote would be required to be holders of
some relevant
professional qualification and the corporate electorate
would be on the
same basis as for corporate bodies in the existing 21
FCs.
It is
expected that the electorate for this EC would be several
thousand
voters.
Consideration would have to be given to whether there was a
sufficient
degree of commonality of interest between those organizations
with individual
membership and those organizations with corporate
membership to
enable their joint interests to be fairly represented by a
single Legco
member. If this would appear to be impracticable, we
would recommend
membership of the EC comprise only those
organizations
with individual membership.
2.8.10 Textile FC
Membership of
this proposed FC would be on a corporate basis and
comprise all
members of the bodies that constitute the Textile Council of
Hong Kong Ltd,
which are as follows:
Federation of Hong Kong Garment Manufacturers
The Hong Kong Weaving Mills Association
The Hong Kong Association of Textiles Bleachers, Dyers,
Printing & Finishers Ltd
The Federation of Hong Kong Cotton Weavers
Hong Kong Cotton Spinners Association
Hong Kong Chinese Textile Mills Association
Hong Kong Knitwear Exports & Manufacturers Association
Ltd
Hong Kong Woolen & Synthetic Knitting Manufacturers’
Association Ltd
Hong Kong Garment Manufacturers Association Ltd
Hong Kong Printers & Dyers Association Ltd
Hong Kong Cotton Made-up Goods Manufacturers Association
Ltd
Membership
of these bodies is open to any firm or corporation involved
in the
manufacturing of textile products.
Since this
FC comprises corporate members, the electorate would
be
on the same
basis as for corporate bodies in the existing 21 FCs.
3. As business interest are very strongly represented in the
original 21FCs, we
very strongly recommend that when making the
selection of bodies to be
included in the replacements for the 9 new
FCs added for the 1995 LegCo,
preference be given first to increasing
labour representation and to
non-business organizations.
The Hong Kong Democratic Foundation would
be most happy to meet with
you or relevant members of your staff to
discuss these proposals in further
detail or provide any clarification that may
be required.
Yours sincerely,
Alan Lung
Chairman
| Policy Paper - page revised 23-09-2002 Copyright © 1999-2003 Hong Kong Democratic Foundation. All Rights Reserved Reproduction of this paper is permitted with proper attribution to the Hong Kong Democratic Foundation |