New electoral system heralds improved political ecosystem

Subsector ordinary elections for the 1,500-member Election Committee will be held on Sept 19 in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. So far, 1,056 nominations have been received, according to government data.

Some observers believe that there will be only one candidate for most of the seats, and actual voting will only be needed for about 360 seats, promising a smooth election without controversy.

However, it would be a one-sided view if we look at the September elections only from the voting turnout. Instead, we should regard it as the first election since the HKSAR government rolled out the Improving Electoral System Bill according to amendments to Annex I and Annex II of the Basic Law. The amendments were approved by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature.

It also will be the first of three elections that will bring real change to the future governance of Hong Kong. The upcoming elections have three significant implications for the overall political development of Hong Kong.

The first implication is the implementation of the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong", which is the backbone of the improved electoral system. Although this political principle is not new－it has been the underlying principle of "a high degree of autonomy" since "one country, two systems" was devised－it was not institutionalized until recently.

Under the new election system, "patriots administering Hong Kong" is much more than a slogan. This time real action was taken by the Candidate Eligibility Review Committee when it started the vetting process to ensure that no fake patriots would run for a seat on the Election Committee in September. Previously, some subversive entities disguised as "pan-democrats" found their way into the political establishment and proceeded to try to seize the governing power of the HKSAR. Thankfully, those pretenders won't be able to slip through the cracks anymore, thanks to the tight vetting mechanism.

The second implication of the elections is a more balanced representation in the electorate following the expansion of the new Election Committee, from four sectors to five and from 1,200 seats to 1,500. This is not just an increase in quantity, with the third sector getting more representatives from the grassroots, the fourth sector getting representatives of district bodies, and the fifth sector getting more representatives of Hong Kong members of national institutions. These are all qualitative changes to reflect a more balanced representation of the Election Committee.

Additionally, the new electoral system will require candidates for the chief executive nomination to obtain no fewer than 15 votes in each of the five sectors of the Election Committee. This will give all sectors a bigger say in determining the leader of the HKSAR and thus more political power than ever before.

The new institutional arrangement has laid a favorable foundation for a more balanced and broader representation in the Election Committee. What's more, these electorates selected from different sectors and groups cannot only show the public they are representing the interests of various sectors but also convey popular demands to chief-executive hopefuls. This creates a channel for the voice of the public to be heard.

The above two lead to the third implication: sustained improvement of Hong Kong's political ecosystem. Under the new electoral system, anti-China subversive forces are excluded from the democratic selection process, while the Election Committee sees a broader voter base for all sectors proportionately represented. It will lead to a healthier political ecosystem.

The people of Hong Kong and the international community will eventually see the worth of the new electoral system. As a special administrative region practicing "one country, two systems", Hong Kong can, on the one hand, uphold the principle of "one country" by safeguarding national security in its electoral system, and on the other hand, incorporate local public sentiment into its political system, which will help improve the overall governance of Hong Kong.

It will take time for the new electoral system to gain wider public recognition. It can be said that the formation of the new Election Committee is an important milestone, and its performance will affect the desire to vote in the subsequent Legislative Council election. Therefore, the formation of the Election Committee certainly deserves more attention from the public.

The author is senior research officer of the One Country Two Systems Research Institute, a Hong Kong think tank.