See also posts 51401 and 51402.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/13/international/asia/13hong.html March 13, 2005 China to Limit Term of Hong Kong's Next Leader By KEITH BRADSHER HONG KONG, March 13 - - A decision by the Hong Kong government to shorten the term of the territory's next chief executive, as demanded by Beijing, drew strong objections today and late Saturday from democracy advocates, who warned the plan could trigger a constitutional crisis. The Basic Law, Hong Kong's mini-constitution, mentions only five-year terms for chief executives. But Elsie Leung, the territory's secretary for justice, announced on Saturday, after a visit to Beijing, that a new chief executive would be chosen this summer to complete the two remaining years in the current term of Tung Chee-hwa. Complaining of stress and other health problems, Mr. Tung submitted his resignation on Thursday. It took effect immediately when Beijing officials accepted it on Saturday. Donald Tsang, who had been the chief secretary here, became acting chief executive. Mr. Tsang said at a news conference on Saturday evening that the same 800-member Electoral Committee of Beijing loyalists that selected Mr. Tung by acclamation for a second, five-year term in 2002 would meet on July 10 to choose a successor. The government here plans to amend the local election ordinance to make this possible, Mr. Tsang added. Ronny Tong, a former chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association who is now a pro-democracy member of the legislature here, said the government would be able to push an amended election law through the legislature, where government supporters outnumber democracy advocates by 35 to 25. But he cautioned that such a law would be vulnerable to a legal challenge in the courts, because the Basic Law takes precedence over any ordinances enacted by the legislature, and the Basic Law makes no provision for shorter terms. "No one can rule out the possibility someone will challenge not only the legality of the ordinance but also the legality of the new chief executive, and that would put Hong Kong into a very serious constitutional crisis," he said. Ms. Leung said that the intent of the drafters of the Basic Law had been to allow for shortened terms for replacement chief executives. But she also acknowledged that the law itself did not reflect this, and that the Hong Kong government had told the legislature in writing in 2001 and again in 2004 that only five-year terms were possible under the Basic Law. Ms. Leung also conceded in a carefully worded statement that Hong Kong's legal system did not allow judges to consider the intent of a law's drafters when the law itself is clear, and that the consensus of Hong Kong's legal community was that the Basic Law only allowed five-year terms. But she pointed out that mainland China's legal system did allow legislative intent to be considered. "The Basic Law, being a national law, was adopted by the National People's Congress in the context of the institutional framework and rules of statutory interpretation of the mainland," Ms. Leung said, referring to the Communist Party-controlled legislature of China. She pointed out that top mainland officials, including the president of China, serve five-year terms, and if the official steps down in the middle of a term, the successor serves only the balance of the term. Moreover, members of the Electoral Committee here are chosen for five-year terms intended to let each committee select one chief executive. So allowing a committee nearing the end of its term to choose another chief executive for a full five years would extend that committee's influence for a total of more than five years, Ms. Leung said. The terms of current members of the Electoral Committee expire on July 13. Saturday was the last day that Mr. Tung could resign and still have his successor chosen by the current committee, which is especially heavy on Beijing loyalists. "While Hong Kong has adopted the common law system for over a century, China adopts the continental law system," Ms. Leung added. "After the reunification, it can only be expected that the two systems of legal thinking which have been developing under different historical and cultural backgrounds have to be reconciled." Emily Lau, a senior pro-democracy lawmaker, said that democracy advocates in the legislature had yet to decide whether to sue if the government pushes through an amendment to the local election law. "Even if we don't do it, some members of the public may do it," she said. Mr. Tsang said at a news conference on Saturday night that he was confident the government could defeat any challenges to the legality of an amended statute. Jackie Hung, the vice convener of the Civil Human Rights Front, a coalition of pro-democracy groups that has organized demonstrations attracting hundreds of thousands of people over the last two years, said this afternoon that the coalition's leadership would meet on Monday night to decide whether to protest the government's plan for a shortened term. "We think it should be five years," she said. A two-year term, followed by elections in 2007, has clear political advantages for Beijing. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the Communist Party-controlled legislature, issued a legally binding ruling last April barring universal suffrage and direct elections for chief executive in 2007, while leaving open the prospect of greater democracy in elections held in later years. By holding elections in 2007 for another five-year term, mainland officials have effectively pushed back until 2012 any broad elections for this territory's leader. The short term could also limit the service of Mr. Tsang, the front-runner for this summer. He is a longtime civil servant not entirely trusted by pro-Beijing politicians here because of his three decades of loyal service to the British crown, for which he was knighted. Mr. Tsang said on Saturday evening that the local government would work on a plan to broaden the Electoral Committee's membership before the next selection of a chief executive in 2007. Only 160,000 of Hong Kong's 6.9 million people are allowed to vote in elections held every five years for the committee. Mr. Tsang said he would serve as acting chief executive until the Electoral Committee votes on July 10. Before the committee can convene, 33 of the 800 seats on the committee must be filled through by-elections, having become vacant for various reasons over the past five years. Ms. Lau said that the government's willingness to rewrite the election ordinance might hurt public confidence in the rule of law. 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