Political situation
Written by: Chen Jialuo
2020-07-31 07:00
The last update date: 2020-07-31 07:00The postponement of the Legislative Council election for a year is almost a foregone conclusion. It is expected that the Hong Kong government will officially announce it after the nomination period ends. However, the issue of the term of office of the Legislative Council members involves constitutional arrangements and needs to be submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for decision. Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday that the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress will be held in Beijing for 4 consecutive days starting from August 8th, half a month earlier than the usual meeting time, and there is no Hong Kong issue on the agenda.
According to the news, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress will have a good chance to discuss the issue of the term of office of Legislative Council members under the Basic Law and decide whether the term of the next Legislative Council will be three or four years. It will also deal with the issue of the Legislative Council's vacuum period. Tan Yaozong, a member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, said that the chairman of the National People's Congress can join other agendas at any time if he thinks it is appropriate.
Tan Yaozong, member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. (Profile picture)
Rarely change the standing committee at the beginning of the month
The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress will be held in Beijing from the 8th to the 11th next month. It will review the draft of the city maintenance and construction tax law, the draft revision of the juvenile crime prevention law, the national flag law and the national emblem law.
Tan Yaozong said that the Hong Kong agenda has not been seen for the time being, but the chairman of the National People's Congress can increase the agenda as needed. He pointed out that this meeting was long and there were many issues to be discussed. I believe there is no need to open another standing committee in August. As for the postponement of the Legislative Council election, Tam Yiu-chung said that the government has not officially announced it and will not comment.
The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress is generally held at the end of every two months. However, the Standing Committee met in mid-June to first review the draft of the "Hong Kong Version of the National Security Law". The official Hong Kong-related agenda was not announced beforehand. The official media published the draft on the opening day.
Hong Kong National People’s Congress representative Ma Fengguo pointed out that this time the conference is coming more urgently. I believe there are no places for deputies of the Hong Kong People’s Congress to attend Beijing, and the issue is far less complicated than that of the National Security Law. The opinions of the deputies are very clear.
The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress held a meeting at the end of June to discuss the national security law of the port area without announcing the agenda beforehand. (Profile picture/Xinhua News Agency)
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There are many issues to be resolved in postponement of elections, including the issue of the term of office of members. According to Article 69 of the Basic Law, in addition to the first term of office of the Legislative Council, the term of office of members is 4 years. Tang Jiahua, a member of the Executive Council, pointed out yesterday that when the former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa resigned midway in 2005, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress explained the law. The chief executive who took office halfway will only make up for the remaining term. If applied to this situation, I believe the term of the next legislative council member will change. For 3 years.
Liu Zhaojia, vice chairman of the National Hong Kong and Macau Research Association, pointed out that most of the constitutional arrangements must be resolved by the central government, but he believes that the term of office is not the most important issue. On the contrary, how to deal with the vacuum period in the next year is more critical. He said that the postponement of elections is unprecedented. In addition to convening emergency meetings of the Legislative Council, the central government can also establish a provisional legislature to maintain the effective governance of the SAR government and protect the legislative mechanism. Decisions made by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress can consolidate the legal foundation. Challenged by law.
He also proposed to study Article 48, paragraph 4 of the Basic Law. During the vacuum of the Legislative Council, the Chief Executive will issue an executive order to allow the government to continue to implement policies for one year after the elections are postponed, but the specific plan is yet to be studied by the Central Government.
The nomination period for the Legislative Council election ends this Friday (July 31). The government will formally announce the postponement of the election in early August and announce that it will ask the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress to decide on the term of office of members. Rarely, the Standing Committee will meet in early August. Some institutional members laughed and said that the reason for the early meeting is self-evident.
Legislative Council election 2020 Tam Yiu Tsung Hong Kong District People's Congress Representative Liu Zhaojia Tang Jiahua