Political Rights

In October 1997 the Provisional Legco amended the election laws of the newSpecial Administration Region (SAR). Out of 60 seats in the new legislature, 10seats are to be chosen by an 800-member Election Committee. 20 seats of thefirst Legco will be elected according to geographical constituencies, while therest will be returned by functional constituencies. Critics pointed out thatthis election arrangement violated the principle of political equality. Since itallows a small number of people to cast more than one vote, while the majorityhas only one vote, this is clearly against the principle of "one person onevote, one vote one value".

Despite the unsatisfactory electoral system and the bad weather on 24th May,the voting rate reached a historical high of 53%. Analysts suggested that thisis an expression of dissatisfaction of the performance of the SAR government.Pro-democratic parties interpreted this phenomenon as a call for democracy bythe citizens, demanding the election of the second chief executive and all 60seats in the second legislature by universal suffrage.

July 1998