Admin & Civic Affairs

Consensus-building move mooted: Raymond Tam

(March 11, 2014)

Secretary for Constitutional & Mainland Affairs Raymond Tam says the Government will consider writing out the review procedures for the nomination committee's composition and nomination methods if this could help to build community consensus.
 
Speaking to the media today after a District Council meeting, Mr Tam said some council members asked if it were possible to further improve the electoral system after the Government's constitutional reform proposal is adopted, a concern shared among many others in the community.
 
He said he would be happy to explore with the Department of Justice the feasibility of putting the review procedures in writing.
 
He also said the “love the country, love Hong Kong” requirement for Hong Kong's Chief Executive is a political expectation rather than a legal requirement, as it is neither practicable nor easy to introduce it to the legal framework.
 
The requirement can be described as putting the nation’s and Hong Kong’s interests as core considerations for every policy, he said.
 
The Basic Law expects the Chief Executive to be accountable to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Central People’s Government, he said, adding it is for the nomination committee, the voters and the Central Government to judge whether a candidate is suitable.