Although both the two motions on constitutional reform submitted by the Hong Kong government Wednesday won support of over half of the 60-seat chamber, the Legislative Council (LegCo), they were not adopted because they did not win a two-thirds majority of the votes, a requirement set by the Basic Law.
The two motions submitted by the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) are the Method for Selecting the Chief Executive in 2007 and the Method for Forming the Legislative Council in 2008.
The HKSAR government published the two proposals after 18 months of consultation on the basis of soliciting opinions from various walks of life and submitted them to the LegCo.
It is the first time for the government of the HKSAR to propose amendment to the method of Selecting the Chief Executive according to the Basic Law.
Under the Basic Law, if there is a need to amend the method for selecting the Chief Executive for the terms subsequent to the year 2007 and to amend the method for forming the Legislative Council and the voting procedure after 2007, such amendments must be made with the endorsement of a two-thirds majority of all the members of the Legislative Council and the consent of the Chief Executive. And for selecting the Chief Executive, such amendments shall also be reported to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for approval; and for forming the Legislative Council, they shall be reported to the Standing Committee of the NPC for the record.
(Xinhua News Agency December 22, 2005)
