This round of resignations and by-elections for the Legislative Council is unnecessary and could have been avoided, a Constitutional & Mainland Affairs Bureau statement says.

In response to media enquiries regarding remarks made by legislator Margaret Ng on an RTHK programme today, a bureau statement noted that since five lawmakers have chosen to resign, the Government will, in accordance with the law, organise the by-elections to ensure the public will be fully represented by 60 members in the council.

It stressed that the procedures for amending the two electoral methods for the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council in 2012 will not be affected by the results of the by-elections.

The proposals must obtain the support of a two-thirds majority of all Legislative Council members, the consent of the Chief Executive and endorsement of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, it added. 

The Government has abided by the principle of not creating new 'traditional' functional constituencies. It has proposed to increase the number of functional seats in LegCo returned through elections among elected District Council members in 2012. Out of 70 seats, 41 - nearly 60% - would be returned by direct or indirect geographical elections.

As to how the functional constituencies should be dealt with in future, the community will have sufficient time to discuss this controversial subject, the bureau's statement said. The Gvernment has made it clear that any universal suffrage model for the Legislative Council in 2020 should comply with the Basic Law and the principles of universality and equality.

The bureau called on different political parties and LegCo members to seek common ground so that Hong Kong's electoral system can move forward.