Eden Lam's Political Reform Proposal

【明報專訊】CONVENOR of the Executive Council Eden Lam Woon-

kwong proposed the other day the abolition of functional constituencies
in 2020 and the reform of the electoral system. This is certainly worth
attention and discussion.
The inherent anomalies of the political system have since Hong Kong's
handover led to internal political conflicts that have left the city
purposelessly spinning its wheels without making any progress. The
existence of functional constituencies is meant to protect political
privileges, and gives a minority of privileged people the political power
to dominate the Legislative Council, so that popularly elected
lawmakers cannot have their way through the regular procedures. In
recent years, lawmakers' behaviour in the Legco chamber has
continued to deteriorate. While this has to do with certain lawmakers'
personal styles, it can also be seen as a reaction to the unfair and
unjust political system. The rapid growth of radicalism in society can be
seen in the same way.
The central government has always insisted on a "gradual and orderly
progress" in Hong Kong's political development. As functional
constituencies are anti-democratic in nature, they should be phased
out to make way for "gradual and orderly progress". However, what
political reforms we have had so far have left functional constituencies
completely unchanged, which is why many people have come to
question the sincerity of the central government's promise of universal
suffrage for Legco elections. Lam's proposal is not to start phasing out
functional constituencies in 2016, but to abolish them once and for all
in 2020. Legco cannot be expected to function fairly and rationally
unless all its members are elected by universal suffrage.
In recent years, disorder has been the order of the day in Legco. This
is largely the result of Legco's highly heterogeneous composition,
which is inimical to the efficient administration of Hong Kong since it
makes the achievement of a broad consensus difficult, especially over
important issues, thus hindering the implementation of important
government policies. According to Lam's proposal, functional
constituencies are to be abolished in 2020, and all Legco members are
to be elected by universal suffrage. Moreover, as the current
proportional representation system tends to encourage heterogeneity,
Lam suggested reforming the electoral system, so that two-thirds of
Legco's members may be elected by simple majority, and the remaining
one-third by proportional representation, in order that those in the
minority will not be unrepresented.
The election of two-thirds of Legco members by simple majority is
conducive to the formation of a few major political parties. And when
these parties hold sway in Legco, the government can specifically
target canvassing efforts towards them in its attempt to win support for
its policies. This can help to improve administrative efficiency.
Hong Kong's administrative plight is such that political reform must not
be limited to the electoral arrangements for the Chief Executive or the
composition of Legco. It would be best if, realising how beneficial it can
be to Hong Kong, the central government would allow the introduction
of party politics. For this would not only complete the democratisation
process, but also solve other political reform problems. Would the
central government be realistic and free-thinking enough to agree to
such a breakthrough in Hong Kong's political development? We hope
that Lam, as an enlightened establishmentarian, will try harder and
make use of every opportunity to plead with the central government on
Hong Kong's behalf. We also hope that the government will as soon as
possible initiate systematic discussions on comprehensive political
reform, so that a consensus may be reached for the proper governance
of Hong Kong.
明報社評 2013.06.19﹕徹底政改才能釜底抽薪 林煥光翻動阻路的石頭
行政會議召集人林煥光倡議 2020 年廢除功能組別，同時提出調整選舉制度。
林煥光的建議值得留意和討論。
回歸之後，本港政制的先天缺陷，導致政治內耗，使香港在空轉中停滯不前，
而功能組別就是政治特權的產物。少數人憑特權取得政治權力，主導議會，使
得到廣大選民授權的民選議員的主張，未能透過議會程序體現。近年立法會議
事惡質化，固然與部分議員的作風有關，也是對議會不公平、不公義的反彈，
另外，整體社會氛圍愈來愈偏激，與此亦有關。
中央一直堅持香港政制發展要循序漸進，然而功能組別的反民主實質，按理
應該循序漸退，則政制發展才會循序漸進，但是歷次檢討，功能組別巍然不動
這是不少人質疑中央是否有誠意落實立法會議席普選的原因。林煥光未建議
2016 年逐步減少功能組別議席，而在 2020 年一次過廢除。立法會全部議席經
由普選產生，才可以使議會在公平合理情况下運作。
近年，立法會亂象頻生，主要與立法會組成零散有關，對政府施政不利，特別
是重大政策，在議會之內很難凝聚大多數共識，使政策難以落實。林煥光建議
2020 年廢除功能組別，全部議席由普選產生，為免出現比例代表制使立法會
的組成更零散，他建議改變選舉制度，三分之二議席以簡單多數票選出，三分
之一由比例代表制選出，以保障少數派不會被排擠。
立法會三分之二議席以簡單多數票原則產生，有助於培養少數幾個具規模政
黨，他們成為議會主要骨幹力量之後，政府推銷政策，就有重點游說對象，有
望加快施政效率。
以香港面對的管治困局，政制檢討肯定不能局限於特首選舉辦法或立法會如何
組成。若看到政黨政治對本港的好處，落實推行，則除了完成民主化以外，一
應政制問題也會一併解決，自然最理想，然而，中央能夠解放思想，實事求
是地讓香港政制有如此突破發展嗎？林煥光是開明的建制中人，我們期望他
繼續努力，把握機會向中央陳情；我們亦期望政府盡快就全面改革政制開展有
系統的討論，凝聚共識，為香港管治找到一條正確出路。
Glossary
abolition ﹕ the official end to a law, system, practice etc
heterogeneous ﹕ consisting of many different kinds of people or things
hold sway ﹕ be the main influence on people's opinions or behaviour