ENG-1997 — Page 53

CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

qualifications, including statutory qualifications. Each individual member will have one vote. The electorates of functional constituencies representing economic or social groups are generally made up of corporate members of major organisations representative of the relevant sectors. Each corporate member will appoint an authorised representative to cast the vote on its behalf in an election.

(c) Election Committee

The Election Committee will return 10 members of the first-term Legislative Council. The qualifications for candidature are the same as those for geographical constituency elections. The Election Committee will be composed of 800 members who are HKSAR permanent residents from four sectors: industrial, commercial and financial; the professions; labour, social services and religious; and members of the Provisional Legislative Council, Hong Kong deputies to the National People's Congress, representatives of Hong Kong members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and representatives of district- based organisations. Each sector will return 200 members of the Election Committee.

The method for returning the 10 Legislative Council members by the Election Committee will be by the block vote system, under which each member of the Election Committee will be required to cast 10 votes and the result will be determined by first-past-the-post.

Electoral Affairs Commission

An independent statutory body, the Electoral Affairs Commission, was set up in September 1997, to ensure that the elections are conducted openly, honestly and fairly. It comprises three politically neutral persons appointed by the Chief Executive and is headed by a High Court judge. It is responsible for making recommendations to the Chief Executive on the delineation of geographical constituencies, making regulations on practical arrangements for the elections, and to handle complaints relating to elections. The commission's executive arm is the Registration and Electoral Office, a government department headed by the Chief Electoral Officer. The department works under the commission's direction and carries out its decisions.

Voter Registration

Elections to the Legislative Council geographical constituencies are by universal suffrage. Every permanent resident of the HKSAR who is 18 years of age or above and not otherwise disqualified is eligible to apply for registration as an elector in the constituency in which he lives. The 1997 General Electoral Roll contains 2.53 million registered electors. To enable eligible electors to take part in the first HKSAR Legislative Council election, an intensive voter registration exercise started in December 1997 to carry into January 1998.

Advisory Boards and Committees

The network of advisory boards and committees is a distinctive feature of the system of government. It seeks to obtain, through consultation with interested groups and individuals in the community, the best possible advice on which to base decisions.

Advisory bodies give advice to the government through a policy secretary or a head of department. They can broadly be divided into two categories: statutory bodies (such as the Antiquities Advisory Board) and non-statutory bodies (such as the

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