Hong Kong chief secretary says electoral reform open to future changes

Chief secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said Beijing’s stringent reform framework for the city’s next chief executive election could be amended in future.

Speaking on a Commercial Radio programme this morning, Lam said the National People’s Congress Standing Committee had a constitutional right to revise the electoral reform framework in light of the actual situation if the next Hong Kong government decided to roll out another round of reform.

“At the second step [of the so-called five-step reform procedure], the Standing Committee has to make a decision on how to amend the electoral system,” she said. “It can make a decision based on the actual situation – such as the ways to make the governance smoother – at that time.”

The government put forward a blueprint for the 2017 chief executive electoral reform proposal on Wednesday, in line with the rigid framework set last year by Beijing. It requires chief executive hopefuls to win majority support from a 1,200-strong nominating body, which will approve two to three candidates for whom Hongkongers can vote in a general election.

She said the government expected the Legislative Council to vote on the proposal in the second half of June.

Government officials said the threshold of 120 recommendations from members of the committee for the hopefuls to be eligible for consideration could allow aspirants with different political views to enter the race.