Elections Likely For 13 Out Of 36 EC Subsectors

Elections will not be needed for many of the seats on the Election Committee, with the number of names put forward only slightly exceeding the number of places available as the nomination period comes to an end on Thursday,

Of the 1,500 seats on the powerful body, 982 are designated to be returned through elections, while the rest will be filled either automatically or through nominations.

The government said after nominations closed on Thursday that it had received a total of 1,056 nomination forms, with 13 of the 36 subsectors receiving more applications than seats available.

They include commercial (third), insurance, architectural, medical and health services, social welfare, labour, as well as representatives of members of various local committees of Hong Kong, Kowloon and New Territories.

The labour subsector will likely see the most vigourous competition, with 72 people vying for 60 seats, followed by the medical and health services subsector, where 24 hopefuls are competing for 15 seats.

For the remaining subsectors, the number of applications either exactly matched the places available, or there were fewer nominations than seats up for grabs.

Would-be candidates still need to be vetted by a newly formed panel of government officials and pro-Beijing figures, with the results to be announced on August 26.

Any elections required will take place on September 19.

Those who make it onto the committee will not only choose Hong Kong's next chief executive in March 2022, but will also pick 40 of the 90 Legco members to be selected this December.