Hong Kong on Thursday released a highly anticipated guideline for the upcoming chief executive election, and set the nomination period for the race from February 20 to March 5, with the election date set on March 27.
It will be the first chief executive election since the implementation of the electoral reform in Hong Kong. The reforms fixed the loopholes in the local electoral reform with the principle of patriots governing the city.
According to the Chief Executive Election Ordinance, the nomination period for candidature shall be fixed by the Chief Electoral Office, and the period shall not be less than 14 days and shall be terminated on a day earlier than the 21 days before the polling date. And a nomination of a candidate shall be made by no less than 188 members of the Election Committee, with no less than 15 members for the committee in each of the five sectors.
The Candidate Eligibility Review Committee will review and confirm the eligibility of candidates. The committee may also request the opinion of the Returning Officer during this period and make a decision based on the review opinion of the Committee for Safeguarding National Security of Hong Kong.
The first round of voting is set from 9 am to 11 am on the voting day, and a candidate who wins over 750 eligible ballots would be elected immediately, otherwise the second round of voting will take place in the afternoon.
The announced nomination period was about 5 days of delay from the previously indicated period. As when the HKSAR government reported to the Legislative Council last October, it had expressed that the nomination period would be set from February 15 to March 2.
“I can assure you that the nomination period is designated fully in accordance with the law,” Barnabas Fung, the chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission, told reporters on Thursday morning. And according to the ordinance, the election affairs commission is not a decision maker but it has to ensure the process strictly abides by the law. -The Daily Mail-Global Times News Exchange Item
