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Hong Kong polls to be postponed for second year as part of Beijing’s planned overhaul of elections, with expansion in store for legislature, Election Committee
- Legislative Council could have up to 90 lawmakers and source says election likely to be deferred until 2022
- Beijing placed reform of city’s elections on the agenda of its annual ‘two sessions’ meetings that began on Thursday
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Hong Kong’s Legislative Council could have up to 90 lawmakers, up from the current 70, and the Election Committee that selects the city’s chief executive may add another 300 voters to become a 1,500-member outfit, as part of a drastic overhaul to the electoral system, the Post has learned.
On the proposed expansion of Legco, sources said the additional members would be chosen from the Election Committee, which is expected to hold its voting only in December.
As such members can only join Legco after December, sources said the postponement of Legco elections was all but certain. Two sources said the polls, delayed from last year to this September because of the Covid-19 pandemic, would be deferred to September 2022.
The reason for the delay was that the changes would require local legislative amendments Beijing was not confident could be done before July when the current Legco term ends, other sources indicated.
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Annual meeting of China's top political advisory body opens
Annual meeting of China's top political advisory body opens
Sources revealed these proposals were on the cards as Beijing placed the reform of the city’s elections on the agenda of its annual “two sessions” meetings that began on Thursday. The reforms are to fulfil the precept of “patriots governing Hong Kong” deemed necessary for the stability and security of the city.
State-run news agency Xinhua reported that an item titled “Improving the Election System of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region” was listed seventh on the agenda of the National People’s Congress (NPC), whose plenary session starts on Friday.
Tony Cheung became a political journalist in 2007. He joined the Post in 2012, and covers Hong Kong-mainland relations, public policies and political issues. Prior to joining the Post, he was a reporter at Asia Television in Hong Kong, Beijing and Guangzhou. He holds a Master of Laws in Human Rights degree from the University of Hong Kong.
William Zheng is a veteran journalist who has served and led major Hong Kong and Singaporean media organisations in his 20-year career, covering greater China. He is now a senior correspondent on the China desk at the Post.
Lilian joined the Post in 2019 as a senior reporter covering Hong Kong politics, Hong Kong-mainland issues, as well as housing and land policies. She started her career at Ming Pao in 2010 and was then a principal reporter at i-Cable News.
She has won awards for her reports on a major historic relic discovery in Hong Kong, as well as vote-rigging problems in local elections.
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