Election Committee 'won't Just Pick Yes Men'

Former Legco president Tsang Yok-sing says he doesn’t think lawmakers picked by the election committee (EC) would blindly support the government, as long as they are selected on the basis of their “political ability”.

Tsang, a founder of the pro-Beijing DAB party, was commenting on Beijing’s proposal to allow the committee – currently tasked to select the chief executive – to also choose “a large share” of legislators.

Tsang said on Tuesday that lawmakers chosen by the election committee – unlike those from geographical and functional constituencies – would not be bound and restricted by their voters.

The National People’s Congress (NPC) has also been told that Legco will be expanded from 70 seats to 90 – and Tsang said more than one-third of them should be selected by the election committee.

Otherwise, he said, they would become “a minority” and "won't be able to do much" to ensure cooperation between the legislature and the executive branch.

But he believes election committee lawmakers would not support whatever the government says, as long as they're picked for their political ability.

"The EC will be under some level of pressure from society. If the people elected [by the EC] cannot be good gatekeepers, and some government policies that are totally wrong or cause great opposition are passed, then they have to be responsible," said Tsang.

He added that he is optimistic that the changes will bring Hong Kong closer to the eventual goal of universal suffrage, despite reports that they will lead to a fall in the number of directly elected seats.

"My view is... the criteria of being patriotic before you can take part in elections now is incorporated in our election system, then maybe the central government will be more willing to allow, you know, the election system to move forward in the sense that we have more and more directly elected seats, although the election has to be preceded by some kind of screening."