HK's constitutional reform package conforms to Basic Law
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China's top legislature Tuesday determined that the constitutional reform package of Hong Kong conforms to the Basic Law of Hong Kong and relevant interpretations by the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC).
The NPCSC members made the comments while reviewing the package during the ongoing bimonthly session scheduled from Aug. 23-28.
Hong Kong's constitutional reform package refers to the draft amendments for the methods of selecting the Special Administrative Region's (SAR's) Chief Executive and for forming the SAR's Legislative Council (LegCo) in 2012.
LegCo passed the draft amendments in June, before Chief Executive Donald Tsang signed them off later in the month.
A statement issued by the NPCSC on Tuesday said, "The reform package is an important step in the development of Hong Kong's political system, which has been jointly pursued by the SAR government and Hong Kong citizens."
It also said that appropriate revisions to the methods of selecting the SAR's Chief Executive and forming LegCo would be conducive to achieving the goal for Hong Kong's democratic development, which has been stipulated by the Basic Law.
The Basic Law and a decision by the NPCSC in December 2007 stipulated that Hong Kong's Chief Executive and LegCo in 2012 would not be elected by universal suffrage.
The reform package suggests the number of members of the Election Committee for Chief Executive be increased from 800 to 1,200, and the current nomination threshold, at the ratio of one-eighth of the total membership of the Election Committee, be maintained.
Regarding the method of forming the Legislative Council, the number of seats should be increased from 60 to 70. Of the 10 new seats, five will go to geographical constituencies through direct elections while the other five to functional constituencies.
