Motion Debate on Electing the Legislative Council by universal suffrage (29 November 2006)

MR JAMES TIEN (in Cantonese): President, I very much agree with the viewpoint raised by Mr LAU Chin-shek just now, that is, insofar as dual elections by universal suffrage are concerned, the vast majority of the people believe that the election of the Chief Executive by universal suffrage should be handled as a matter of priority. In this regard, Members of the Liberal Party already elucidated their views on the election of the Chief Executive by universal suffrage in 2012 last week.

With regard to the Legislative Council, I have had the experience of expressing my views in this Council as a Member selected or elected by several different methods. I was first appointed to this Council in 1998 (sic). In 1991 I became a Member of this Council as the representative of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries in the commercial and industrial constituency. In 1998, I became a Member of this Council as the representative of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce in the commercial constituency. And in 2004, with the support of the public, I was elected a Member of this Council through direct election. Throughout these times, regardless of the capacities in which I worked or am working, be it an appointed Member, the representative of the industrial constituency, the representative of the commercial constituency, or an elected Member now, whenever some major issues of Hong Kong come before me, I would always judge them with the overall picture in mind, and I have always been mindful of the general interests of Hong Kong people, though some slight inclinations cannot be completely ruled out. Yet, I do not believe that I have ever changed the positions adopted on certain issues just because I was or am serving in my capacities as an appointed Member, the representative of the industrial sector, the representative of the commercial sector, or an elected Member or for the sake of any interest party, or for any kind of collusion between the Government and business, or for any other reasons.

Of course, regarding the value of functional constituencies, many Honourable colleagues have also spoken on the subject. But the current decision of the Liberal Party on this issue is based precisely on Article 68 of the Basic Law, which states that "The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall be constituted by election. The method for forming the Legislative Council shall be specified in the light of the actual situation in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and in accordance with the principle of gradual and orderly progress. The ultimate aim is the election of all the members of the Legislative Council by universal suffrage.".

President, allow me to repeat these words again, and they are: "in the light of the actual situation", "gradual and orderly progress", "ultimate aim" and "by universal suffrage". This is precisely what the Liberal Party is suggesting right now. We are of the opinion that, subsequent to the introduction of universal suffrage to the Chief Executive election, the FCs should be abolished in a gradual and orderly manner in different phases starting from the next term Legislative Council.

Certainly, we do understand that many Members hold the view that these are small-circle elections involving vested interests. However, from another point of view, we have to judge it from the perspective of balanced participation. From the perspective of balanced participation, since Hong Kong is a capitalistic society driven by economic development, many candidates from constituencies with balanced participation may feel reluctant, or it may not be so easy for these candidates to be elected by way of direct election, and that is why we are putting forward this proposition. Since Mr Abraham SHEK is in the Chamber now, I would like to explain to him the proposal of the Liberal Party on the phased abolition of the FCs, as well as the so-called theory of issuing death certificates. These are matters of our common concern, and Mr SHEK must understand that it is written in the Basic Law, that "the ultimate aim is ……by universal suffrage." Therefore, it was not the Liberal Party that has come up with the theory of issuing the death certificates; instead, this is exactly stipulated in the Basic Law, and I believe that we, including you, would not want to violate the Basic Law, would you?

But then, a controversy emerges over our proposal of phased abolition of the FCs: Which ones should be abolished? Who would be prepared to let go of his seat of his own accord? To date, only Dr Fernando CHEUNG, who has just walked out of the Chamber, has indicated that he would be willing to let go of the seat of the social welfare constituency, whereas other Members are all saying that they are unwilling to give up their seats. Of course, some Members believe that if we have to establish the order by which FCs are to be abolished, those that are least representative should be abolished first, for example, constituencies of the insurance, agriculture and fisheries, financial sectors and Heung Yee Kuk, and so on, for each of them has only 100 voters or so.

However, we think differently. For the sake of achieving balanced participation, and from the perspective of the operation of Hong Kong in general and that of the Legislative Council in particular, shall we not first abolish those seats of FCs the candidates of which would find it easier, when compared with others, to take part in direct elections? For example, I have noticed that it is particularly easy for members of the legal profession to take part in politics, and this is true all over the world. Currently, we have as many as eight directly elected Members who have a legal background, including Mr Martin LEE, Mr Albert HO, Mr Andrew CHENG, Mr James TO, Mr Alan LEONG, Ms Audrey EU, Mr Ronny TONG and Mr LI Kwok-ying, and this is also true in many different places all over the world. As such, should the legal constituency go first? On the other hand, there are Members who come from the labour sector, including Miss CHAN Yuen-han, Mr TAM Yiu-chung, Mr LEUNG Yiu-chung, Mr LEE Cheuk-yan and Mr LAU Chin-shek. Naturally, Members from the labour sector stand the biggest chance of getting elected through direct elections. This being the case, should the labour FC be abolished ahead of others?

Regarding Mr Abraham SHEK, I definitely support him. He represents the real estate constituency, and he is the only person who can represent Cheung Kong Holdings, Sun Hung Kai Properties, Henderson Land and New World Development. Therefore, the seat for the real estate FC must not be abolished prematurely. Another example is the representative for the finance FC, Dr David LI. He represents more than 150 different banks, including American banks, British banks, Chinese banks, Hong Kong banks and a local bank under his ownership. Of course, the number of voters is small, but I think he has great representation. The finance sector and the real estate sector are the pillars of Hong Kong too. So if the abolition of such seats could be implemented in a gradual and orderly manner, then we have this conceptual proposal, though it is by no means concrete at the moment. Of course, we can further discuss this in greater detail.

Now if the abolition could be implemented in a gradual and orderly manner, then eventually some Members may say that the whole process of "gradual and orderly manner" would not complete until 2047. From the point of view of the Liberal Party, if the process would only complete by 2047, which means it takes 50 years for the abolition to materialize in a gradual and orderly manner, then it does seem a bit late to us. If the Chief Executive can be elected by universal suffrage in 2012, then we would propose that the election of the Legislative Council by universal suffrage can be implemented in 2016 to 2020 or 2024, and these are options that Members may consider.

President, since there is still some time left, I would like to add that Members returned through FCs do have an important role to play in this Council. I have noticed that many Members from professional sectors, such as Members from the commercial sector, would examine laws to see if they are feasible, practical and reasonable, and whether they could strike a right balance in the pursuit of the overall interest of Hong Kong in the process of enacting a proper piece of legislation. Therefore, I believe Members returned through FCs have their fair share of contribution, and it is not true that they only focus on the specific interests of the sectors they represent. If a piece of legislation is not enacted properly, the Government will not be able to enforce the law after enactment. At present, I do have doubts about the enforceability of the law on the smoking ban. For example, if a person smoking under a piece of rock on the beach was arrested, I wonder if the law would be enforceable at all. If we set aside the issue of election and the issue of fairness and impartiality and judge the subject purely from the perspective of enacting legislation, I would agree that legislation should be enacted properly by Members who have representation. This is essential to any legislature. Thank you, President.