Critics have warned that China’s far-reaching changes to Hong Kong’s electoral rules will dilute democracy in the region’s financial hub and effectively remove all opposition to the Chinese Communist Party from the city’s formal politics.
According to the BBC, the number of directly elected seats in parliament has been cut almost by half, and prospective MPs will first be vetted by a pro-Beijing committee to ensure their loyalty to the mainland.
It reports that the aim is to ensure only ‘patriotic’ figures can run for positions of power.
Beijing’s rubber-stamp parliament first approved the plan during the National People’s Congress (NPC) meetings earlier in March. On Tuesday, Chinese state media reported that the country’s top decision-making body, the NPC Standing Committee, voted unanimously to pass it. This amends the annexes of Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law.
This will affect the way Hong Kong’s parliamentary Legislative Council (LegCo) is formed, effectively making it easier to bar politicians deemed critical of Beijing.
The number of directly elected LegCo members falls from 35 to 20, while LegCo’s size is increased from 70 to 90 seats – thus diluting the influence of democratically elected politicians.
According to the BBC, the last time the only real elections in Hong Kong were held – those for local councils – the pro-democracy camp took control of all but one district council right across the city. It says this ‘clearly spooked Beijing’.
[Image: Sharon Ang from Pixabay]