Article 31 empowers the NPC to prescribe by law the systems to be instituted in a special administrative region like Hong Kong. The preamble invokes the NPC’s authority under articles 31 and 62 of the P.R.C. The preamble requires that Hong Kong’s electoral system, as an important part of its political structure, must “conform to the policy of ‘one country, two systems,’ meet the realities in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, serve to ensure that Hong Kong is administered by people who love the country and love Hong Kong, be conducive to safeguarding China’s national sovereignty, security, and development interests, and help maintain the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong.” The Decision includes a preamble followed by nine operative articles.

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Below, we will first provide an overview of the Decision, before discussing in detail the changes it will make to Hong Kong’s electoral system.

” It is therefore “important,” the explanation continues, “to take necessary steps to improve the electoral system and remove existing institutional deficiencies and risks to ensure the administration of Hong Kong by Hong Kong people with patriots as the main body.” The Decision marks the first of those steps. (Almost fifty activists involved in the primaries have been charged with violating the Hong Kong National Security Law.) The Decision’s explanatory document cites all those events as evidence of the “clear loopholes and deficiencies” in Hong Kong’s current electoral system-which it says have been exploited by “anti-China, destabilizing elements” to attempt to seize the “power to administer. The Decision comes on the heels of a series of events in the past two years: mass protests against the Hong Kong government’s extradition bill (since withdrawn), opposition lawmakers’ use of filibusters to delay proceedings, and pro-democracy primaries for the now-postponed 2020 Legislative Council election. On Thursday, March 11, the National People’s Congress, with 2895 votes in favor and 1 abstention, approved the Decision on Improving the Electoral System of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ( Decision), which takes immediate effect. Our explanation and analysis of Hong Kong’s new election rules is available here.Īnother year, another NPC decision on Hong Kong.

Provincial Legislative Responses to Covid-19Įditor’s Note: The NPCSC revised Annexes I and II to the Hong Kong Basic Law on March 30.

Explainer: NPCSC Legislative Affairs Commission.

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