A political development panel will be formed under the
Commission on Strategic Development to study issues related to
supporting measures for achieving universal suffrage, Hong Kong's
Chief Secretary for Administration Rafael Hui said on Thursday.
The panel will examine how to attain universal suffrage under
the principles of balanced participation, the future of functional
constituencies, changes in District Council function, positioning
of the civil service, and development of the accountability
system.
Hui reiterated that only when the supporting measures are ready
and the community has reached a high degree of consensus on the
pace of introducing universal suffrage, will a timetable for
introducing universal suffrage be practical and meaningful.
Hui said proposals in the Constitutional Development Task
Force's Fifth Report are already a step forward in constitutional
development in Hong Kong, and it has struck a balance among the
different sectors' interests.
He explained that under the proposals, 60 percent of the future
Legislative Council (LegCo) seats and 400 newly added Election
Committee members will be directly or indirectly elected by over 3
million registered voters.
On the voting right of appointed district councilors, he said
both elected and appointed members should enjoy the same rights and
there is no reason to exclude appointed members.
Hui said in the 2007 District Council elections, the element of
appointed members has to be maintained so as to guarantee service
quality to the community at the district level and a balanced
participation.
However, he agreed that in the long run, when universal suffrage
is achieved, the appointment system will cease to exist.
(Xinhua News Agency October 21, 2005)