What are functional constituency seats?
Under the existing system, for example, in the sectors of health services, education and social welfare, a small number of voters have the right to vote in their personal capacity, while other modes of group voting, that is, ordinary employees and practitioners engaged in this industry, are not eligible to vote. Therefore, most functional constituencies can only represent a small part of the industry, such as employers, and cannot fully reflect the views of all citizens engaged in the industry.
The functional constituency system in Hong Kong was first established during the colonial period, which was related to the Green Paper on Representative Government published by the Hong Kong Government in July 1984. This document is regarded as the beginning of political reform in colonial Hong Kong. In this election, 24 members were elected by the electoral college and functional constituencies respectively, and each constituency had 12 members. The members of the electoral college include all members of the Urban Council, the Regional Council and the District Councils. The remaining seats are appointed by the Governor. Official Members 1 1, the Governor, the Secretary for Home Affairs, the Financial Secretary and the Department of Justice are all ex officio Members. The governor is also a member and chairman.
12 functional constituency seats are distributed in the following sectors:
Labor circle
Business (1)
Business (2)
Industry (1)
Industry (2)
Engineering, architecture, surveying and urban planning
educational circles
Legal circle
Social service department
Medical science
Financial world
Before the transfer of sovereignty from 65438 to 0997, the positioning of functional constituencies attracted much attention. This stems from the fact that the then Governor Chris PATTEN added nine functional constituencies in the Legislative Council election, from 65438 to 0992, that is, the "new nine-group proposal". Patten also changed the election method of functional constituencies, from group votes to individual votes; Finally, the number of eligible voters in functional constituencies increased to 2.7 million, and the actual registered number was 65,438+0,654,38+0.5 million (see section III of the 2003 US Human Rights Report and page 43 of the Hong Kong Policy Research Institute Report). Patten's reform was criticized by Beijing authorities as a loophole in the Basic Law, and Lu Ping, then Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, publicly called him a "sinner of the ages" in March 1993.
After the transfer of sovereignty, Hong Kong functional constituencies can vote in the Legislative Council functional constituency seats and the Election Committee subsector elections respectively.
As of 2004, there were 28 functional constituencies in Hong Kong. According to government statistics in 2004, the number of voters in functional constituencies is 192374. Different functional constituencies have different qualifications for voter registration, some voting by individuals and some voting by groups. Take the accounting department as an example. According to the constitution of the Registration and Electoral Office, the voter is a certified public accountant under the Professional Accountants Ordinance, Chapter 50 of the Laws of Hong Kong. People who become functional constituency voters can vote in the election of functional constituency seats in the Legislative Council.
Individuals or organizations eligible to be registered as voters in functional constituencies must also apply for registration as subsector voters in the Election Committee. Subsector voters may vote for members of the Election Committee representing their respective industries. In addition to their industries, eligible persons may also elect representatives from employers' federations and Heung Yee Kuk to join the Election Committee, but they may not be able to vote in the two sectors respectively.
As of 2004, there were 28 seats in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong returned by functional constituencies. According to government statistics in 2004, the number of voters in functional constituencies is 192374.
The Legislative Council of Hong Kong has 60 seats. As of the last election in 2004, there were 30 seats in geographical constituencies and 30 seats in functional constituencies.
The 30 functional constituency seats are distributed in the following sectors:
Heung Yee Kuk
Agriculture and fisheries sectors
insurance industry
Shipping and transport sector
educational circles
Legal circle
Accounting field
Medical science
Health service department
Engineering field
Architecture, Surveying and Urban Planning
Social welfare department
real estate and construction fields
Tourism circle
Business (first)
Business (2)
Industry (first)
Industry (2)
Financial world
Financial services sector
Sports, performing arts, culture and publishing
Import and export department
Textile and garment industry
Wholesale and retail sectors
Information technology community
catering industry
District self-government association
Labour sector (three seats)
Except for the labour sector, which can elect three seats, all others can only elect 1 seat.
Voting system
The majority voting system is adopted in 23 functional constituencies, and every voter belonging to that constituency has the right to vote.
The Labour functional constituency elected three seats by unanimous vote;
The other four "special functional constituencies" (Heung Yee Kuk, agriculture and fisheries, insurance and shipping) adopted the priority elimination system to elect the remaining four seats.
If more than one candidate gets the most votes and the votes are the same, the Returning Officer will definitely decide the winner by drawing lots.
Future development
As early as 1997, when the SAR Government was studying the functional constituency election of the first Legislative Council, a few people suggested that the nine new functional constituencies should be "new", but the Government did not adopt this idea and finally elected members from the existing 28 functional constituencies.
In the early 2000s, when discussing the initial stage of Hong Kong's political reform, some people still suggested that the functional constituencies of the Hong Kong Legislative Council could continue this practice, so that all voters could have their own functional constituencies, so as to achieve the effect of universal suffrage. However, by the mid-2000s, people who generally supported Hong Kong Democrats hoped to abolish functional constituencies directly and achieve universal suffrage through full geographical direct elections. At the same time, some people in the pro-Beijing camp support universal suffrage for functional constituencies, such as Elsie Leung.
debate
support
Supporters of functional constituencies believe that society needs to take into account the interests of businessmen and government officials after retirement, and the introduction of representatives from all walks of life can make the resolutions of the Council more broadly representative [2]. At the same time, functional constituencies also attract professionals from the industry to participate in politics, thus improving the quality of deliberation and the chances of passing government bills.
opposition
Under the colonial rule of Hong Kong and Britain, both the Executive Council and the Legislative Council were appointed members from the business and professional sectors. It was the distribution of political power by the British regime in Hong Kong that enabled these people to gain economic advantages more smoothly, thus consolidating their rule. It can be seen that political and economic interests have always been transmitted circularly. After 1985, a small number of functional constituency seats were introduced into the Legislative Council. Today, with a limited number of directly elected seats and an executive-led structure, politics continues to serve the economic interests of small circles.
Critics who oppose functional constituencies think that in a parliament that discusses social affairs as a whole, it may be impossible to discuss various issues such as economy, medical care, education, retirement, welfare and infrastructure, and it is also impossible to elect candidates by subsectors. They will first take care of the interests of their own voters and make society tend to split. At the same time, opponents also point out that there is no objective standard for the division of functional constituencies. For example, the medical profession may need to be subdivided into Chinese medicine and chiropractors, and whether the education sector needs to be subdivided into primary schools, secondary schools, universities and special education. At present, there is no uniform standard for the threshold of voters in different sectors. Some are companies, and some are members of professional organizations (such as education). However, for example, voters in the accounting sector have to undergo multiple rigorous examinations, which is not as fair as expected by functional constituencies [3]. Therefore, functional constituencies may not fully reflect the opinions of all people engaged in the industry, which makes opponents question the "broad representation" of functional constituencies.
Besides, many members of the public accuse Members of functional constituencies of being "shields" for the Government to legislate and put forward proposals. Very often, the SAR Government can use the votes of these so-called "privileged classes" to get government policies passed smoothly, while ignoring the people's right to speak. For example, despite strong opposition from many citizens and elected members, the Government, with sufficient support from functional constituencies and established members, has vigorously promoted the project of building a high-speed railway.
Some commentators have cited examples, pointing out that if the US Congress summons or invites relevant professionals to submit their opinions or testify when necessary, the special committee system can also make up for the technical deficiencies of professional politicians, and there is no need to forcibly establish functional constituencies.