Nominating committee will select best CE candidates: Elsie Leung

By Kahon Chan in Hong Kongkahon@chinadailyhk.儲存comFormer justice secretary Elsie Leung Oi-sie said the Nominating Committee (NC) was a mechanism for picking the best people to run for Chief Executive (CE), adding that its members were not supposed to choose candidates just because they like them.Leung, deputy director of the Basic Law Committee under the National People's Congress Standing Committee, was outlining her views on the implementation of universal suffrage at a symposium in Hong Kong on Thursday.She noted that the NC was provided in Article 45 of the Basic Law to select candidates for direct election of the CE planned for 2017. Leung said it was a "distortion" to label the committee as a "filter" mechanism.The opposition often cites Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as a measure of how genuine universal suffrage is. Leung said some restrictions on candidates were acceptable as long as they are not "unreasonable" and were necessary in order to pick the most deserving candidates.Leung noted that some limits on candidates were already written into the Basic Law for the CE — such as the minimum age of 40. No one has ever complained about them.The composition of the NC should be similar to the election committee which elected the city's previous leaders. But Leung said members of the NC should not chose candidates based upon personal preferences."You don't nominate a person you like. You should nominate a person who meets the requirements for the post of CE and leave the choice to the people," she said, adding that popular support would be a critical factor.The former justice secretary reiterated that one f迷你倉ctor noted in the Basic Law was that the CE must not oppose the central government. Leung said she believed most of the electorate would only choose candidates acceptable to Beijing.She said the number of votes held by each member should be equal to the maximum number of candidates and majority rule is only one option of "democratic procedure" to determine candidates.But she ruled out "civil nomination" as an acceptable procedure, because the proposal steered too far away from Hong Kong's constitutional framework. Moreover, the idea of making decisions through petition is also dangerously close to a referendum. This was a mechanism not provided in the Basic Law, Leung explained."As such, are the citizens also able to decide on the independence of Hong Kong? Such authority is not provided in our existing political framework. I don't think (the concept) fits into the design of our political system," she said.Leung reaffirmed her faith in the central government and Hong Kong people in realizing universal suffrage. She urged the public to set aside controversial issues and take one step at a time."Democracy is like a child who learns to walk. The child must be let go to walk on his own. And while there might be trips and falls in the process, I believe the Hong Kong people have enough wisdom to ultimately realize universal suffrage," she said.Democracy is like a child who learns to walk. The child must be let go to walk on his own. And while there might be trips and falls in the process, I believe the Hong Kong people have enough wisdom to ultimately realize universal suffrage."Elsie Leung Oi-sieDeputy director of the Basic LawCommittee under the NPcSC儲存倉