Joseph Y. S. Cheng
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the leaders has pushed them to adopt inflexible and radical stands, as was demonstrated after the release of the first draft of the Basic Law in April 1988 in the consultations as with other political groups on the political system of the Hong Kong SAR.
The democracy movement had proposed in the declaration issued by the Joint Committee for the Promotion of Democratic Political Systems on 2 November 198615 that the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR should be nominated by no less than one-tenth of the members of the legislature, and directly elected by a territory-wide general election with universal franchise. Obviously, direct election by universal franchise would be the most democratic method, and in accord with the spirit of the modified presidential system of government that bestows on the Chief Executive a large degree of independence relatively free from any major checks and balances except for the threat of impeachment. Direct election of the Chief Executive, however, would involve substantial mobilization and might bring about serious divisions and even confrontation within the community. If there were too many candidates, there would be confusion. For the legitimacy of the Chief Executive to be guaranteed, he would have to receive an absolute majority of the votes cast, so two rounds of elections would probably be required, following the French system of presidential election (whereby if no candidate receives an absolute majority of votes cast in the first round, then the two candidates securing the most votes in the first round enter a second round).
If the Chief Executive were selected in this way, then the appointment of the Chief Executive by the central Chinese government could only be a matter of formality and a demonstration of China's sovereignty over Hong Kong. 16 If the central government refused to appoint the Chief Executive elected by universal franchise, there would certainly be a constitutional crisis, with a serious adverse impact on the stability and prosperity of the Hong Kong SAR.
One may reasonably speculate that both Beijing and the local conservative business community would like to have a considerable measure of control over the choice of the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR so as to ensure that the Chief Executive selected would be acceptable from their point of view. The conservative business community has also wanted to avoid the possibility of having a directly elected Chief Executive who is a political figure unacceptable to Beijing. Thinking along these lines, the business and professional group of members of the Basic Law Consultative Committee suggested in 1988, while the first draft of the Basic Law was being produced, that the Chief Executive should be elected by an electoral college. They proposed that members of the electoral college would include members of the legislature, representatives of district organizations, representatives of corporate bodies and non-corporate permanent organizations, and representatives of various 'functional' constitutencies (including industry, commerce, finance, professions, education, labour, religious communities, social services and the public servants), totalling about 600 in number. The electoral college would then elect a nominating committee of 20 members from its own midst, which in turn would nominate three
15. See the declaration in pamphlet form issued by the Joint Committee for the Promotion of Democratic Political Systems on 2 Nov. 1986: a summary of the declaration appeared in all major newspapers in Hong Kong on 3 Nov. 1986. The Joint Committee is a loose umbrella organization involving practically all groups advocating democracy in the territory. The 100 or so groups include political groups, church groups, trade unions, etc. The Joint Committee was formed in 1986 and can at best mobilize 10,000-20,000 people. Its leaders are Martin Lee and Szeto Wah, members of the Legislative Council and the Basic Law Drafting Committee.
16. Article 45 of The Draft Basic Law, p. 41,