Legco Will Have Enough Time To Vet Election Bill: CE

Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Tuesday that the government will make sure Legco has as much time as possible to examine proposed changes to Hong Kong’s electoral systems.

Lam noted that the National People’s Congress Standing Committee is scheduled to hold a special meeting in Beijing on March 29 and 30 to hammer out details on changing annexes 1 and 2 of the Basic Law regarding the chief executive and Legislative Council elections.

This follows a decision by the National People’s Congress on March 11 that the election committee currently tasked to select the CE should also be given the power to nominate and pick lawmakers, and that Legco should be expanded from 70 seats to 90.

Speaking before attending the weekly Executive Council meeting, Lam said her team has started to prepare for amendments to relevant local laws, and will table them to Legco as soon as possible.

“I would not think that just because most lawmakers now are pro-establishment, they don’t have to scrutinise the bill, or would have to pass it very quickly,” she said.

“So, one of the principles of our work is to allow Legco as much time as possible to scrutinise the bill, so that they could fulfil their constitutional duties as legislators.”

Lam had said she hoped changes to the election systems could be completed within a year so they could be adopted for the chief executive vote in March next year.