Ho Chi-man

ATD's plan unconstitutional

The Alliance for True Democracy (ATD) recently published a preliminary proposal about the method of electing the Chief Executive (CE) by universal suffrage in 2017, including the selection of Nomination Committee (NC) members by secret ballots from all eligible voters. A hopeful becomes a legitimate candidate if he/she has the support of one-eighth of the NC members or is promoted as such in a written petition signed by a sizable number of eligible voters.

Elsie Leung, former secretary for justice of the SAR government and deputy director of the Basic Law Committee, said the ATD's proposed format of the 2017 CE Election by universal suffrage does not comply with relevant decisions of the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) announced in 2007. Indeed, discussions about the method of selecting NC members can be wide open so as to gather as many ideas as possible, provided they follow the Basic Law and relevant decisions of the NPCSC faithfully and do not step out of the boundaries of the rule of law.

Qiao Xiaoyang, director of the Law Committee of the NPC, said earlier this year that all existing systems of democratic election by universal suffrage are established on a constitutional foundation unique to each society and the one for Hong Kong is none other than the Basic Law and relevant decisions of the NPCSC. The foundation is also the common platform for popular discussions about universal suffrage. Without this common platform, consensus will be impossible because there are no boundaries and everyone is free to fantasize. That is why there are so many different electoral systems in today's world but no universal template to copy.

An electoral format removed from its constitutional foundation is illegal; while blindly copying a foreign system will only create confusion and chaos. Hong Kong's constitutional foundation for elections by universal suffrage can only be the Basic Law and relevant decisions of the NPCSC, not the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights the ATD is obsessed with day in and day out.

The author is a current affairs commentator. This is an excerpted translation of his article published in Hong Kong Commercial Daily on May 15.

Judicial review farce

Legislative Council (LegCo) President Tsang Yok-sing formally terminated the filibuster by four opposition lawmakers against the 2013-14 Budget Plan at noon on Tuesday. His decision was made and executed according to the Rules of Procedure of LegCo. It was meant to prevent the SAR government from being disabled by a "fiscal cliff", allow measures aimed at benefiting the public to be implemented and restore order in LegCo.

The LegCo president's power to terminate filibusters has been recognized by the court, but the lawmakers who used it against the Budget Plan threatened to overturn the decision through a judicial review, which can only be seen as an unjustifiable ploy.

The Civic Party and Democratic Party both said they did not support the latest filibuster, but are now opposing the decision to terminate it. Their self-contradicting outburst tells people they are in fact partners with People Power (PP) and the League of Social Democrats (LSD), which are responsible for the filibuster, and therefore should be condemned.

Tsang had every reason and unquestionable power to cut the ill-motivated, dragging filibuster game short. However, PP chief Wong Yuk-man immediately requested a break of the scheduled session to debate Tsang's decision; while his fellow PP troublemaker Chan Wai-yip and LSD's "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung went a step further into preposterousness by threatening to harass Tsang with another judicial review.

Leung filed for judicial review twice against Tsang last year after the LegCo president terminated a filibuster he launched against the LegCo Ordinance (Amendment) Bill, designed to prevent lawmakers from resigning to force by-elections and calling them "referendum" at taxpayers' expense, and lost. The Court of Appeal ruled earlier this year that Leung must pay the full expenses of both parties in the case because he lost.

The verdict also reaffirmed that Tsang as LegCo president has the power to cut filibusters short to protect public interest as well as ensure normal operations of LegCo. Leung and Chan will only show the public they are thoroughly incorrigible if they go ahead with the judicial review farce.

This is an excerpted translation of a Wen Wei Po editorial published on May 15.

(HK Edition 05/16/2013 page9)