The recent decision to postpone elections for the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong SAR has produced the expected reactions within Hong Kong, in China, and in the rest of the world. The Office of the US Secretary of State issued this statement:
The United States condemns the Hong Kong government’s decision to postpone by one year upcoming Legislative Council elections originally scheduled for September 6. There is no valid reason for such a lengthy delay. It is likely, therefore, that Hong Kong will never again be able to vote – for anything or anyone. This regrettable action confirms that Beijing has no intention of upholding the commitments it made to the Hong Kong people and the United Kingdom under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, a UN-registered treaty, and the Basic Law. For decades, the Hong Kong people have repeatedly demonstrated their desire and ability to hold free and fair elections. We urge Hong Kong authorities to reconsider their decision. The elections should be held as close to the September 6 date as possible and in a manner that reflects the will and aspirations of the Hong Kong people. If they aren’t, then regrettably Hong Kong will continue its march toward becoming just another Communist-run city in China.
This reflects the traditional position of liberal democratic states both to the position of Hong KOng and its connection to international law (see press coverage here, here, here and here).
When Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced the step in late July she also sought the opinion of Chinese Central Authorities respecting this action.
When Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced the step in late July she also sought the opinion of Chinese Central Authorities respecting this action.
She recognised the problem this would create because of the four-year limit to a Legco term under the city’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law. She had asked Beijing to step in, she said, and the State Council had responded with full support. “They acknowledged that there will be this problem of the status of Legco, or a lacuna in Legco, as a result of the postponement. So what their guidance and advice to me is: the State Council will make a submission to the National People’s Congress Standing Committee [NPCSC] for its decision,” Lam said. (Hong Kong leader delays legislative elections, asks Beijing to resolve legal questions, citing coronavirus pandemic dangers ).
That guidance and advice in the form requested came on 8 August 2020, distributed as a publication Regarding "The Standing Committee on the sixth session of the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region" Explanation of the Motion to Make
Decisions for the Legislative Council to Continue Operation" [关于《国务院关于提请全国人民代表大会; 常务委员会就香港特别行政区第六届;立法会继续运作作出决定的议案》的说明]. This was produced at the 21st meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress on August 8, 2020. It was produced by Xia Baolong, Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council.
The document follows in the original Chinese along with a crude English translation. Of special note¶§:
We believe that, in accordance with Article 43 of the Basic Law, the Chief Executive, as the head of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is responsible to the Central People’s Government on behalf of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and she is responsible to the Central People’s Government on constitutional issues affecting the regular general elections of the Legislative Council in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. (¶ 2)The entire response is worth a careful read. It provides a very clear window on the way that distinct ideological approaches to the normative construction of principles of democracy and democratic organization can substantially change approaches to key issues of governmental functioning. This is particularly the case where, as within the Chinese administrative system, the core governance principles revolves around the necessity "to ensure the governance of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government and the normal operation of society and maintain the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong."
关于《国务院关于提请全国人民代表大会
常务委员会就香港特别行政区第六届
立法会继续运作作出决定的议案》的说明
——2020年8月8日在第十三届全国人民代表大会常务委员会第二十一次会议上
国务院港澳事务办公室主任 夏宝龙
来源： 中国人大网 浏览字号： 大 中 小 2020年08月11日 19:02:37
全国人民代表大会常务委员会：
我受国务院委托，现对《国务院关于提请全国人民代表大会常务委员会就香港特别行政区第六届立法会继续运作作出决定的议案》作以下说明。
一、关于香港特别行政区立法会正常换届选举受影响的情况
香港特别行政区立法会是香港特别行政区的立法机关。《中华人民共和国香港特别行政区基本法》（以下简称基本法）第六十九条规定：“香港特别行政区立法会除第一届任期为两年外，每届任期四年。”香港特别行政区第六届立法会任期至今年9月30日届满。今年6月12日，香港特别行政区行政长官林郑月娥依法指定9月6日为第七届立法会换届选举的举行日期。随后，香港特别行政区选举管理委员会公布《立法会选举活动指引》，并指定7月18日至31日为立法会换届选举提名期。
今年7月初以来，香港特别行政区暴发新一轮新冠肺炎疫情。截至8月7日零时，全港累计确诊病例3938例，其中本地确诊病例2874例，受感染人士遍布香港多个区域和行业，且有接近一半个案感染源头不明。特别是7月22日至8月2日，连续12天每日新增确诊病例均过百例。面对新冠肺炎疫情，香港特别行政区政府迅速行动，采取了加强病源追踪、加大边境管制、严格控制公共场所聚集、收紧豁免检疫安排等一系列更为严格的防疫抗疫措施，但疫情仍然在社区急速扩散、持续蔓延，防疫形势极为严峻。公共卫生专家认为，此轮新冠肺炎疫情出现社区大暴发的风险不断增大，而且短期内难以消失。如果每日新增病例过百的情况持续数周，香港的公立医院系统将濒临崩溃。
新一轮新冠肺炎疫情对立法会换届选举的正常举行造成严重冲击。一是由于投票日预计将有超过300万选民到615个投票站投票，而投票站空间小，届时难免在投票站内外出现人群聚集的情况，交叉感染的风险非常高。二是由于特别行政区政府从7月29日起实施禁止2人以上人群聚集的防控措施，导致候选人难以开展竞选活动，争取选民支持。三是据国家移民局统计，近3个月滞留内地的港人有52.7万，他们将难以在投票日返回香港投票。同时，今年年初以来，有数以万计赴海外的香港选民因为疫情和有关防控措施而滞留当地，也将同样失去投票机会。四是香港特别行政区登记选民中逾60万年龄超过71岁的长者选民，是新冠肺炎疫情的易感人群，他们可能基于健康考虑而放弃投票。香港许多政团、社团和社会人士认为，在上述因素的综合作用下，如期举行选举不仅很难确保公平、公开，而且会加大新冠肺炎病毒传播风险，危及选民、支持者和投票站工作人员的生命健康和安全。他们纷纷呼吁特别行政区政府借鉴世界上许多国家和地区的做法，依法推迟第七届立法会选举。
在此情况下，为保障市民的身体健康和生命安全，保障立法会选举的参与度和公平公正，并避免妨碍立法会按年度周期处理事务和扰乱选举周期，7月28日，香港特别行政区行政长官会同行政会议根据香港特别行政区《紧急情况规例条例》，决定暂停实施香港特别行政区《立法会条例》中有关“押后立法会选举不得超过14天”的规定，将第七届立法会选举推迟一年。
二、国务院提请全国人民代表大会常务委员会作出决定的有关考虑
7月28日，林郑月娥行政长官向中央人民政府呈送了《关于香港特别行政区2020年立法会换届选举押后事宜的报告》，报告了行政长官会同行政会议所作的推迟第七届立法会选举一年的决定，行政长官还请求中央人民政府对于立法会选举推迟后如何处理立法机关空缺问题，提请全国人民代表大会常务委员会作出相关决定。
国务院认为，行政长官会同行政会议依据《紧急情况规例条例》作出推迟第七届立法会换届选举的决定，法律依据充分，符合当前香港疫情发展的实际情况，有利于保障公共安全和选举的公平公正，符合公众利益，是必要的、恰当的。国务院已于7月29日向林郑月娥行政长官表明对行政长官会同行政会议所作有关决定的支持。
林郑月娥行政长官在报告中还请求中央人民政府提请全国人民代表大会常务委员会就香港特别行政区第七届立法会选举推迟情况下立法机关空缺问题作出相应安排，为第六届立法会继续运作提供宪制依据。我们认为，根据基本法第四十三条，行政长官作为香港特别行政区的首长，代表香港特别行政区对中央人民政府负责，其就香港特别行政区出现的立法会正常换届选举受到影响的宪制问题向中央人民政府提交报告并提出有关建议是适当的。由全国人民代表大会常务委员会就有关问题作出决定也是必要的：一是根据基本法第六十九条关于立法会正常任期每届四年的规定，第六届立法会任期至今年9月30日结束。在香港现行有关法律规定下，行政长官有权决定推迟第七届立法会选举，但无法解决第七届立法会选举推迟后出现的立法机关空缺问题，必须由全国人民代表大会常务委员会从宪制层面解决。二是全国人民代表大会常务委员会有权力也有责任对基本法实施过程中遇到的宪制问题以适当方式予以解决。全国人民代表大会常务委员会的有关决定将为香港特别行政区第六届立法会继续运作提供坚实的法律基础。
三、议案的主要内容及说明
国务院提请全国人民代表大会常务委员会作出决定的议案的内容包括：一是明确2020年9月30日后香港特别行政区第六届立法会继续运作；二是第六届立法会继续运作的时间不少于一年，直至第七届立法会任期开始为止。
议案建议明确2020年9月30日后香港特别行政区第六届立法会继续运作，旨在解决推迟第七届立法会选举引起的立法机关空缺问题，确保立法机关正常运作、特别行政区政府有效施政和社会正常运转。根据基本法第七十三条规定，香港特别行政区立法会行使重要职权，包括制定、修改和废除法律，审核、通过财政预算，批准税收和公共开支等。如果立法机关在相当长时间内空缺，将对特别行政区政府施政和社会稳定带来极为严重的不利影响。明确香港特别行政区第六届立法会继续运作，可以避免出现上述情况。
议案建议明确第六届立法会继续运作不少于一年，直至第七届立法会任期开始为止，既是与行政长官会同行政会议将第七届立法会选举推迟一年的决定相衔接，也考虑到为香港特别行政区根据疫情发展情况和有关工作需要延长立法会选举日期预留空间。
此外，根据基本法第六十九条关于“香港特别行政区立法会除第一届任期为两年外，每届任期四年”的规定，建议全国人民代表大会常务委员会在有关决定中明确，香港特别行政区第七届立法会依法产生后，任期仍为四年。
总之，全国人民代表大会常务委员会对第六届立法会继续运作事宜作出决定，对于确保香港特别行政区政府施政和社会正常运转、保持香港的繁荣稳定，是十分必要的。
议案和以上说明是否妥当，请予审议。
编 辑： 冯涛
编 校： 徐航 周誉东
责任编辑： 刘静波
Regarding "The Standing Committee on the sixth session of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" Explanation of the Motion to Make Decisions for the Legislative Council to Continue Operation"——At the 21st meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress on August 8, 2020
Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council Xia Baolong
Source: China National People's Congress.com Font Size: Big Middle Small 2020/8/11 19:02:37
The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress:
Entrusted by the State Council, I now give the following explanation on the "Proposal of the State Council on Requesting the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress to Make a Decision on the Continued Operation of the Sixth Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region".
1. Regarding the impact of the regular general elections of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the legislature of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Article 69 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Basic Law) stipulates: “The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall have a term of four years except for the first term of two years.” The sixth term of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region The term of office of the Legislative Council will expire on September 30 this year. On June 12 this year, Carrie Lam, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, designated September 6 as the date for the general election of the seventh Legislative Council. Subsequently, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Electoral Management Commission announced the "Guidelines for Legislative Council Election Activities" and designated July 18 to 31 as the nomination period for the general election of the Legislative Council.
Since the beginning of July this year, a new round of COVID-19 has broken out in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. As of 0:00 on August 7, the total number of confirmed cases in Hong Kong was 3938, of which 2874 were confirmed locally. The infected people were spread across multiple regions and industries in Hong Kong, and nearly half of the cases had an unknown source of infection. Especially from July 22 to August 2, there were more than 100 new confirmed cases every day for 12 consecutive days. Facing the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region took swift action and adopted a series of more stringent anti-epidemic measures such as strengthening the tracking of the source of the disease, increasing border controls, strictly controlling gatherings in public places, and tightening the quarantine exemption arrangements. It spread rapidly and continued to spread in the community, and the epidemic prevention situation is extremely severe. Public health experts believe that the risk of a major community outbreak in this round of the new crown pneumonia epidemic is increasing, and it is difficult to disappear in the short term. If more than 100 new cases per day continue for several weeks, Hong Kong’s public hospital system will be on the verge of collapse.
The new round of the COVID epidemic has severely impacted the normal holding of the general election of the Legislative Council. First, because more than 3 million voters are expected to vote at 615 polling stations on polling day, and the space of the polling station is small, it is inevitable that there will be crowds inside and outside the polling station, and the risk of cross-infection is very high. The second is that the special administrative region government has implemented prevention and control measures that prohibit crowds of more than two people from gathering on July 29, which makes it difficult for candidates to conduct election activities and win the support of voters. Third, according to the statistics of the National Immigration Bureau, there are 527,000 Hong Kong people stranded in the Mainland in the past three months, and it will be difficult for them to return to Hong Kong to vote on polling day. At the same time, since the beginning of this year, tens of thousands of Hong Kong voters who have gone overseas have stayed there because of the epidemic and related prevention and control measures, and they will also lose their chance to vote. Fourth, among the registered voters of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, more than 600,000 elderly voters over 71 years old are susceptible to the new crown pneumonia epidemic. They may give up voting for health reasons. Many political groups, organizations and people in Hong Kong believe that under the combined effect of the above factors, holding elections as scheduled will not only be difficult to ensure fairness and openness, but will also increase the risk of the spread of the new crown pneumonia virus, endangering voters, supporters and polling station staff Health and safety of life. They called on the government of the special administrative region to learn from the practices of many countries and regions in the world and postpone the election of the seventh legislative council in accordance with law.
Under this circumstance, in order to protect the health and safety of the citizens, ensure the participation and fairness of the Legislative Council elections, and avoid hindering the Legislative Council’s handling of affairs on an annual cycle and disrupting the election cycle, July 28, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Administration According to the Emergency Regulations Ordinance of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Chief Executive-in-Council decided to suspend the implementation of the provisions of the Legislative Council Ordinance of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region that “the election of the Legislative Council shall not be postponed for more than 14 days” and will elect the seventh legislative council Postponed for one year.
2. Relevant considerations of the State Council’s request to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress to make a decision
On July 28, Chief Executive Carrie Lam submitted the "Report on the Postponement of the 2020 Legislative Council Election in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" to the Central People’s Government, reporting on the Chief Executive in Council’s postponement of the seventh Legislative Council election. The Chief Executive also requested the Central People’s Government to ask the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress to make relevant decisions on how to deal with vacancies in the legislature after the election of the Legislative Council was postponed.
The State Council believes that the Chief Executive-in-Council’s decision to postpone the general election of the 7th Legislative Council in accordance with the “Regulations on Emergency Situations” has sufficient legal basis and is in line with the actual situation of the current development of the epidemic in Hong Kong, and is conducive to ensuring public safety and fair elections. Fairness and public interest are necessary and appropriate. The State Council has indicated to Chief Executive Carrie Lam on July 29 its support for the relevant decision made by the Chief Executive in Council.
In the report, Chief Executive Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor also requested the Central People’s Government to request the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress to make corresponding arrangements for the vacancy of the legislature under the postponement of the election of the seventh legislative council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and provide a constitution for the continued operation of the sixth legislative council. System basis. We believe that, in accordance with Article 43 of the Basic Law, the Chief Executive, as the head of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is responsible to the Central People’s Government on behalf of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and she is responsible to the Central People’s Government on constitutional issues affecting the regular general elections of the Legislative Council in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It is appropriate for the people's government to submit a report and make relevant recommendations. It is also necessary for the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress to make decisions on relevant issues: first, in accordance with Article 69 of the Basic Law on the regular term of office of the Legislative Council for four years, the term of the sixth Legislative Council will end on September 30 this year. . Under the current laws and regulations in Hong Kong, the Chief Executive has the right to postpone the election of the seventh Legislative Council, but it cannot solve the problem of vacancies in the legislature after the postponement of the election of the seventh Legislative Council. The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress must constitutional Level resolution. Second, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress has the power and responsibility to resolve constitutional problems encountered in the implementation of the Basic Law in an appropriate manner. The relevant decisions of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress will provide a solid legal basis for the continued operation of the sixth legislative council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
3. The main content and description of the proposal
The contents of the motion submitted by the State Council to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress for a decision include: first, it is clear that the sixth legislative council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will continue to operate after September 30, 2020; second, the sixth legislative council will continue to operate for no less than One year, until the beginning of the seventh term of the Legislative Council.
The bill proposes to clarify that the sixth legislative council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will continue to operate after September 30, 2020. It aims to solve the problem of vacancies in the legislature caused by the postponement of the election of the seventh legislative council, and to ensure the normal operation of the legislature and the effective governance of the SAR government and society Normal operation. According to Article 73 of the Basic Law, the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region exercises important functions and powers, including enacting, amending and abolishing laws, reviewing and approving budgets, and approving taxation and public expenditures. If the legislature is vacant for a long time, it will have a very serious adverse effect on the governance of the special administrative region government and social stability. It is clarified that the sixth legislative council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will continue to operate, and this can be avoided.
The motion proposes to clarify that the sixth Legislative Council will continue to operate for no less than one year until the beginning of the term of the seventh Legislative Council. This is in conjunction with the Chief Executive in Council’s decision to postpone the election of the seventh Legislative Council for one year, and also consider To reserve space for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to extend the election date of the Legislative Council in accordance with the development of the epidemic situation and related work needs.
In addition, in accordance with the provisions of Article 69 of the Basic Law that “The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall have a term of four years except for the first term of two years”, it is recommended that the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress clarify in the relevant decision that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region After the seventh legislative council of the administrative region is formed in accordance with the law, the term of office remains four years.
In short, the decision made by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on the continuation of the operation of the sixth legislative council is very necessary to ensure the governance of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government and the normal operation of society and maintain the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong.
Please consider whether the proposal and the above explanation are appropriate.
Editor: Feng Tao
Editing and proofreading: Xu Hang Zhou Yudong
Editor in charge: Liu Jingbo
Send feedback
History
Saved
Community
No comments:
Post a Comment