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4฀ Election฀and฀Voting฀Systems:฀ Perspectives฀on฀Democratic฀Governance฀in฀Hong฀Kong'฀ C.฀Ra j฀Kuma r฀ "In฀earlier฀times, ฀there ฀were ฀lengthy ฀discussions ฀on ฀whether ฀one ฀country฀ or฀another฀was ฀yet฀'fit ฀for฀democracy'.฀That ฀changed฀only ฀recently,฀with ฀the฀ recognition฀that ฀the฀question฀was ฀itself฀wrong-headed: ฀a ฀country฀does ฀not฀ have฀to ฀be ฀judged฀fit ฀for ฀democracy, ฀rather ฀it ฀has ฀to ฀become ฀fit ฀through฀ democracy.฀This ฀is฀truly฀a ฀momentous฀change."฀ -฀Nobel฀Laureate ฀Professor ฀Amartya ฀Sen 1฀ This฀pape r฀addresse s฀th e฀issu e฀of฀elections฀an d฀voting฀system s฀a s฀a฀key฀ component฀o f฀th e฀debat e฀o n฀genera l฀politica l฀refor m฀i n฀th e฀Hon g฀Kon g฀ Special฀Administrative฀Regio n฀(HKSAR).฀The฀central฀theme฀of฀the฀paper฀is฀ the฀importanc e฀o f฀democratic฀governanc e฀for฀the฀development฀o f฀a฀viable฀ and฀effectiv e฀votin g฀syste m฀i n฀Hon g฀Kong ,฀bearin g฀i n฀min d฀it s฀particula r฀ constitutional฀an d฀politica l฀realities .฀ The฀pape r฀attempt s฀t o฀d o฀th e฀following :฀first ,฀introduc e฀th e฀topi c฀o f฀ elections฀and฀voting฀systems฀in฀Hong฀Kong฀by฀providing฀some฀backgroun d฀ information;฀second,฀analyse฀various฀electoral฀systems฀and฀consider฀thei r฀ advantages,฀disadvantage s฀an d฀suitabilit y฀fo r฀a ฀particula r฀society ;฀third ,฀ provide฀a n฀accoun t฀o f฀Hon g฀Kong' s฀pas t฀election s฀an d฀votin g฀systems ;฀ fourth,฀provid e฀a ฀critica l฀analysi s฀o f฀Hon g฀Kong' s฀election s฀an d฀votin g฀ systems฀and฀consider฀the฀need฀for฀alternatives;฀fifth,฀explore฀the฀argument฀ *฀Th e฀autho r฀thank s฀Professor s฀Richar d฀Cullen .฀Michael฀Davis ,฀Lin฀Feng ,฀David฀Sandbor g฀an d฀D.K .฀ Srivastava฀fo r฀their฀valuable฀comment s฀an d฀suggestion s฀t o฀an฀earlier฀draf t฀of฀this฀chapter .฀ 1 ฀Se e฀Unite d฀Nation s฀Developmen t฀Programm e฀(UNDP )฀(2002) ,฀Human฀Development ฀Report ฀2002:฀ Deepening฀Democracy ฀in ฀a฀Fragmented฀World, ฀Ne w฀York,฀p.฀63.฀ 44฀Buildin g฀Democrac y฀ ^฀ that฀democracy฀promotes฀transparency฀i n฀governance฀and฀accountability฀ of฀th e฀government ;฀an d฀sixth ,฀emphasise฀th e฀nee d฀for฀a ฀deepening฀o f฀ democracy฀in฀Hong฀Kong฀from฀a฀developmental฀perspective฀with฀a฀view฀to฀ allaying฀variou s฀fear s฀fro m฀certai n฀section s฀o f฀populac e฀tha t฀greate r฀ democracy฀results฀in฀poor฀governance.฀ The฀pape r฀conclude s฀tha t฀th e฀tas k฀o f฀reformin g฀th e฀electora l฀proces s฀ needs฀to฀be฀approached฀with฀the฀aim฀of฀creating฀an฀election฀and฀voting฀ system฀that฀maintains฀the฀social,฀economic฀and฀political฀stability฀of฀Hong฀ Kong.฀At฀the฀same฀time,฀such฀a฀system฀must฀also฀protect฀the฀rule฀of฀law฀ and฀huma n฀right s฀an d฀shoul d฀hel p฀i n฀the฀proces s฀o f฀th e฀deepenin g฀o f฀ democracy.฀ 1.฀Introduction฀and฀Background฀ Hong฀Kong' s฀curren t฀electora l฀syste m฀canno t฀b e฀sai d฀t o฀b e฀full y฀ democratic,฀as฀evident฀in฀the฀fact฀that฀the฀Chief฀Executive฀and฀the฀majority฀ of฀seat s฀i n฀th e฀legislatur e฀ar e฀no t฀electe d฀o n฀th e฀basi s฀o f฀universa l฀ suffrage.2 ฀Th e฀lega l฀an d฀constitutiona l฀commitmen t฀t o฀establishin g฀a n฀ electoral฀system฀based฀on฀universal฀suffrage฀i n฀the฀HKSAR฀is฀set฀out฀in฀ both฀the฀Sino-British฀Joint฀Declaration฀and฀the฀Hong฀Kong฀Basic฀Law.3 ฀The฀ Basic฀Law฀states฀that฀such฀a฀system฀may฀be฀embraced฀after฀2007.฀It฀is฀ important฀to฀work฀towards฀realising฀this฀constitutional฀goal.฀Until฀such฀time฀ as฀this฀shall฀be฀achieved,฀the฀Basic฀Law฀provides฀that฀Hong฀Kong's฀Chief฀ Executive฀is฀to฀be฀chosen฀by฀an฀800-member฀Election฀Committee,฀which฀ is฀itsel f฀selecte d฀largel y฀b y฀functiona l฀sectors .฀I n฀th e฀200 4฀legislativ e฀ elections,฀onl y฀hal f฀of฀the฀6 0฀seats฀i n฀Hon g฀Kong' s฀Legislativ e฀Counci l฀ (LegCo)฀will฀be฀directly฀elected฀while฀the฀remaining฀seats฀will฀be฀selected฀ by฀what฀are฀known฀as฀functional฀constituencies.4 ฀This฀election฀system฀is฀ narrow฀and฀lop-sided฀and฀does฀not฀fully฀reflect฀Hong฀Kong's฀demographic฀ profile.5 ฀Moreover ,฀i t...

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