there are longstanding activists and pressure groups that could play a key role in political development;
■many older Hong Kong people are fearful of PRC and unlikely to demand broader and more direct elections;
the party pontical process - including a Communist party - is inevitable and beneficial, in that open, formal political groupings are preferable to closet or clandestine politics and to narrow economic interest groups;
the Chinese psychological/cultural concern about losing may inhibit individuals from being candidates in elections.
This last concern in not unknown in Britain and elsewhere! However, there is the opposite side of the coin that selection as one's party candidate is itself an bonour and confers status. Consideration could also be given to the legitimate use of political channels for patronage in terms of appointments to, or influence on appointments to, the magistracy or to health authorities or to other public bodies. If those of sufficient calibre who come forward as candidates have an obvious opportunity to be thus appointed it could well be an encouragement.
5.13
There are, of course, other elections not specifically discussed here and our general comments should be interprested mutatis mutandi as applying to all public elections, including, of course, the vitally important direct elections after 1997 for representatives from Hong Kong to the National People's Congress. [See also para 13.2].
5.14
One of our European respondents, who has bimself served in a number of influential capacities in recent years, stressed to us that "Hong Kong politics must be Chinese". We agree.
6.
6.1
Administration of Elections
Public confidence in democracy rests both on the form of ballotting adopted and on the formal administration of the electoral processes. These processes must not only be fair but must also be clearly seen to be fair. The most perfect electoral. system is ineffective if the electors believe that it will not be administered fairly.
6.2
We were impressed by the obvious commitment to the open
and effective administration of the electoral process on the part of all the officials we met. Their willingness to discuss ways and means of increasing democratic participation at all levels was greatly appreciated. There are, nonetheless, a number of issues to which we wish to draw attention.
6.3
The United Kingdom is virtually unique in not having an independent election commission responsible for every aspect of election administration. Instead, in England and Wales for instance, the bureaucratic process is effectively in the hands of the district councils, each of which has an Electoral Registration Office whose chief officer is responsible - sometimes directly to the local authority's Chief Executive. The Home Office is the regulatory government department for England and Wales but to all intents and purposes the local authorities conduct elections in England and Wales. Over the 160 years since the Great Reform Act of 1832 the legislation governing the administration of the electoral process has been regularly reviewed and amended to deal with any perceived abuses.
As a consequence there is now general confidence in the conduct of elections and some of the safeguards that are available are rarely utilised.
6.4
This is not the case in the different political atmosphere of Northern Ireland, however, and as a consequence responsibility for the conduct of all elections in the province rests in the independent Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland who is responsible to the Courts and to Parliament and not to the Government. He also is authorised to publish an annual report which is laid before Parliament and which is potentially a highly effective means of highlighting problems and of resolving them.
6.5
In our view, in the special circumstances of Hong Kong, the Northern Irish rather than the British system should be adopted. This is not at all because those responsible are not to be trusted but rather because so much depends on the success of direct elections, particularly to the Legislative Council, that the possible ground of complaint by an aggrieved individual or organisation congenitally suspicious of the UK Govemment, -the electoral process was inherently flawed by reason of the
Government's involvement in its conduct, should be pre-empted - whether or not such a view was sustainable.
6.6
that
A further reason for having an independent election commissioner lies in the value of establishing a precedent. After 1997 those then responsible for the administration of Hong Kong may well be as trustworthy and as dedicated to the development of democracy as the British administration but, as now, there may well be those who participate, or who wish to participate, in the electoral process who reject that view. Whether such a view is justified or not is immaterial, the process for hearing and disposing of allegations can itself be debilitating to democracy. It is preferable to remove the opportunity for a complaint of this nature by instituting an independent commissioner, and far better to introduce one under the British administration than to seek to do it in 1997.
6.7
Complaints against an independent commissioner will, of course, inevitably be made but at least they are not normally catalysed by an inherent suspicion of the government - of whatever kind - particularly if politicians from a broad enough spectrum are openly supportive of the office and its occupant. We therefore strongly recommend the establishment of the office of Election Commissioner, reporting to, but not responsible to, an Electoral Board whose numbers should be sufficiently small for it be cohesive and consensual but large enough to include respected individuals who hold the confidence of those who comprise the major strands of political life in Hong Kong. The Board members should be appointed as individuals by LegCo.
6.8
The detailed terms of reference of the Election Commissioner can be drawn from the best practice elsewhere but the main aims of the post can be summarised as follows:
To ensure, so far as is practicable, that all aspects of the electoral process shall be free from bias, constraint or undue influence;
To promote, so far as is reasonable, the maximum involvement of the citizens of Hong Kong in all aspects of the electoral process;
To draw attention, by all reasonable means, to defects in the electoral processes which inhibit the achievement of the two aims listed above;
ERS Delegation to Hong Kong Report 6
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