Hong Kong voters not being punished by plan to revamp district councils and cut directly elected seats, home affairs minister says
- Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak doubles down on government proposal to overhaul municipal-level bodies
- She says councils have been politicised by opposition camp and livelihood issues overlooked
Hong Kong’s 4.41 million voters will not be punished by a significant cut in directly elected seats under a proposed district council revamp, a senior official has said while hinting the new system would be for the long run if proven successful.
Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak Mei-kuen on Wednesday doubled down on the reforms, arguing the municipal-level bodies had politicised livelihood matters when they were dominated by publicly elected representatives from the opposition camp.
“Everyone prioritised their political agendas, instead of focusing on neighbourhood matters,” she told a radio programme. “The increasingly politicised slant led district councils down the wrong path. We really need to return to the basics of community affairs.”
The government on Tuesday proposed a “patriots-only” reform for the city’s 18 district councils, which will come into effect in the new term next January following an election at the end of the year.
Under the proposal, only 88 out of the 470 seats will be directly elected by registered voters in the 44 constituencies. Another 355 seats will be appointed by the chief executive or chosen by members of three district committees.
By comparison, the current-term councils include 452 seats directly chosen by voters. These seats had been dominated by the opposition camp, whose candidates won by a landslide in a high-turnout election in 2019.
Mak on Wednesday refuted a suggestion made by the radio host that the latest proposal was designed to punish voters, as the reintroduction of appointed seats was intended to bring diverse voices into the community-level consultation structure.