In the new and improved Legislative Council, Election Committee members’ politics will be crucial

After an election that saw the absence of the traditional opposition and an infusion of new faces, all eyes should be on the 40 lawmakers elected under the Election Committee constituency

Alice Wu

Published: 6:45am, 20 Dec 2021

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For better or worse, the Legislative Council election has concluded. Now it is time to see what this new and improved system looks like.

At first glance, it is first and foremost a system of new faces, of political novices, but will they be an improvement? Of course, it’s too early to tell at this point. New is good, I suppose, marking a fresh start and a clean slate.

The absence of the traditional opposition has created a lot of opportunities in terms of seats needing to be filled, resulting in the infusion of new blood into the political system. If not exactly a changing of the guard, we saw those who have risen through the ranks step into the limelight.

In the geographical constituencies, gone is the system of lists, where we used to see teams of up to nine people per list. Those who would otherwise have had to wait their turn to move to the top of such lists at least had the opportunity to run. That change in the system no doubt disrupted the ways in which political parties handled their internal politics.

The reduction in geographical constituency seats also threw traditional political parties off course, and therefore we saw some old faces and incumbents changing tack to the Election Committee constituency, where political clout counts. But, all in all, this election has mainly been a contest of fresh faces.

Are we now stuck with a legislature of amateurs? That was actually the case in 2016, when many political heavyweights stepped down to make way for newcomers. That term began with the theatrics of oath takers, which resulted in the disqualification of six members. Thereafter, all went south.

But fret not. We have a legislature full of patriots so we can be assured that no member, amateur or not, will disrespect their oaths when they are sworn in.

With the entirely new Election Committee constituency taking the biggest chunk of the legislature, how will these members play the role of legislators? Who do they serve? The 1,448 members of the Election Committee?

Since their electors will be selecting the next chief executive, they, in theory, should have similar politics to the next chief executive. This political alignment designed into the new electoral system makes for a novel dynamic between the geographical, functional and Election Committee constituencies. How they let their politics play out will determine whether it is, indeed, an “improved” system.

One of the candidates for the Election Committee constituency described to me the camaraderie of the candidates vying for the 40 seats as being like that of a beauty pageant. He is known to be a thoughtful man who chooses his words purposefully.

I suppose elections are inherently like pageants, and especially so for the Election Committee constituency. You stand in the spotlight, put on your best patriotic face and pray to be picked. Instead of showcasing idealised versions of femininity on a competitive stage and crowning the winner with a tiara, the new system showcases idealised versions of patriotism.

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This begs the question of whether the most patriotic of them all – the one with the most votes – will be the leader of the group. Would the winner, first runner-up and second runner-up be vying for the chief executive seat?

Who knows? But this much is certain – the 51 candidates appeared to put up a united front. All get to be Mr or Miss Congeniality.

While their campaign debates were surely less confrontational than those in the functional and geographic constituencies, there was probably a lot of back-stabbing drama behind the scenes – just like in beauty pageants. How that will carry forward into the chamber is something to look out for.

Alice Wu is a political consultant and a former associate director of the Asia Pacific Media Network at UCLA

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