The District Councils (Amendment) Bill 2023 was gazetted on May 30 and has been introduced into the Legislative Council for first and second readings, following a public consultation, during which around 99 percent of the residents who responded said they support the proposed district council reform.
According to the reform plan, the seventh-term district councils (DCs) will be formed via government appointment (40 percent), indirect elections (40 percent) and direct elections (20 percent), plus 27 ex officio members, with all candidates to be vetted by an eligibility committee to ensure their suitability.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has emphasized that Hong Kong society will not tolerate the ongoing existence of paralyzed DCs, hijacked by anti-China agitators who promote an agenda that harms the interests of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the country as a whole.
There is a consensus among those who support the overhaul of DCs that doing so will “put the district-level bodies back on the right track of serving residents”.
The overwhelming public support for the proposed reforms can be explained by the fact that the current-term DCs have failed miserably to perform their duty since the political agitators hijacked the 2019 District Council Elections and gained control of the majority of the DCs by exploiting the anti-extradition campaign. The DCs are expected to revert to their original role as district-level consultative organizations, focused on serving the local communities, after the loopholes in the DC-selection system have been fixed by the proposed reforms, allowing only candidates with a track record of serving local communities to make it into these organizations.
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DCs were designed to be local service providers, rather than political organizations. They were set up in 1982 as district boards with the purpose of helping the government provide services and facilities at the district level. Their function is well defined: a network of district-level consultative bodies that should “advise authorities on matters affecting the well-being of residents, as well as government-run programmes, public facilities and services in the district”, as specified by the Home Affairs Department.
Through the vetting and direct appointment mechanisms, the DC reform will ensure that all nominees and elected members are patriots who are loyal to the country and who will sincerely work for the benefit of residents
With the effective implementation of the National Security Law for Hong Kong and the improved electoral system, the achievement of effective and efficient governance at the district level by virtue of the DC reform will help complete the institutional structure for achieving results-oriented governance in the HKSAR.
One lesson for the HKSAR from the pandemic woes is that the dysfunctional DCs were in effect a missing link in the delivery of government assistance to the communities, to the detriment of residents. District councilors are supposed to be on the front line to coordinate different parties in carrying out government policies for the improvement of the welfare of residents, including effective hygiene measures and environmental administration in communities.
It was sad to see during the COVID-19 pandemic that some elected district councilors neglected the needs of their constituencies by resisting assistance from the medical aid teams from the Chinese mainland simply because of their own anti-mainland sentiments. Even the antigen testing services associated with mainland funds were denied access to the residents. These were resources that Hong Kong was at that time desperately in need of.
According to Articles 97 and 98 of the Basic Law, “District organizations … are not organs of political power …”, “The powers and functions of the district organizations and the method for their formation shall be prescribed by law.” These stipulations, which provide the legal basis for the operation of DCs, define the nature of DCs as nonpolitical bodies that have no administrative functions.
Article 22 of the NSL stipulates that anyone who organizes, plans, commits or participates in acts aimed at overthrowing the body of central power of the PRC or the body of power of the HKSAR is guilty of subversion. Moreover, according to Section 21 (1A)(b) of the District Council Ordinance, a person is disqualified from being nominated or elected if he/she has breached a specified oath or has “failed to fulfill the legal requirements and conditions on upholding the Basic Law and bearing allegiance” to the HKSAR of the People’s Republic of China.
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Through the vetting and direct appointment mechanisms, the DC reform will ensure that all nominees and elected members are patriots who are loyal to the country and who will sincerely work for the benefit of residents. By keeping the DC house in order, the proposed reform will contribute to the implementation of “patriots administering Hong Kong” for the well-being of Hong Kong society.
Some critics argue that the proposed reform is “democratic backsliding”. But they cannot dispute the need for Hong Kong to rectify the dysfunctional DCs through necessary reforms which will prevent political agitators from infiltrating these organizations. As John Lee has emphasized, the new DCs must revert to their original function of assisting the HKSAR government in implementing its district-related policies.
Meritocracy is rooted in Chinese tradition. The proposed appointment mechanism embodies this tradition and affords those who are not good at electioneering a chance to serve in DCs. A good balance must be struck between procedural democracy and common good.
The author is vice-president of HKCPPCCYA and Youth Council, and an HKU doctorate student in Public Law.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.