There is no international standard for universal suffrage

Updated: 2014-04-22 08:43

By Song Sio-Chong(HK Edition)

  Print Mail Large Medium  Small 分享按钮 0

There are two opposing views on applying international standards to the Chief Executive universal suffrage election in 2017: One confirms these standards, while the other rejects them. This so-called international standard refers to universal and equal suffrage.

The correct answer cannot be reached if all five processes of the CE universal suffrage are viewed as one. So I suggest separating the whole process into five separate processes (or elements). Then we can examine whether the international standards do apply to some or all of the processes, and then reach an acceptable conclusion.

The first process is formation of Nominating Committee (NC). This is the nomination institution outlined in Article 45 of the Basic Law. It is formed with reference to current provisions regarding the Election Committee in Annex I of the Basic Law, according to the decision of the National People's Congress Standing Committee on Dec 29, 2007.

In view of political parties in the United States exercising similar functions when nominating a presidential candidate, the formation of national party conferences shows us whether international standards apply or not. Because all the representatives at national party conferences are not elected by universal and equal suffrage in US, this proves that international standards do not apply in US. This is also the case for the NC in Hong Kong.

The second process concerns the entrance of potential CE candidates into elections. In Hong Kong, a CE should be accountable to the central government (Article 43(2)). He or she should be a Chinese citizen of not less than 40 years of age, and a permanent resident with no right of abode in any foreign country. He or she should also have lived in the region for a continuous period of not less than 20 years (Article 44). This person should swear to uphold the Basic Law and swear allegiance to the SAR (Article 104).

There is no international standard for universal suffrage

But the requirements for a US president are quite different. They include that he or she must be a US citizen by birth, be at least 35 years of age and lived in the US for 14 years. He or she should also swear allegiance to the US Constitution. The requirements are so various we can again conclude there are no international standards governing entrance requirements for different leaders around the world.

The third process is the nomination procedure. Article 45 of the Basic Law states that a broadly representative NC will nominate a CE candidate "with democratic procedures". It is difficult to understand the opposition camp's criticisms of the NC. In general, the NC not only screens opposition candidates - but also screens pro-establishment candidates. When the Basic Law was enacted, both pro-establishment and opposition parties did not exist in their current forms in Hong Kong. Therefore, it is not fair to criticize the drafters of the Basic Law for not foreseeing some of these problems a quarter of a century later.

As far as I know, there are thousands of nominating procedures around the world. The US's differs from Britain's, Germany's from Japan's and so on. If all nominating arrangements were the same or similar then we could use one clear international standard. But as there are so many different ones, this idea can be rejected.

It appears to me that an international standard of universal and equal suffrage only applies to the CE election, and not other types of elections. Moreover, the principle of "one person, one vote" cannot be applied rigidly. It is sometimes applied either directly or indirectly. For example, the US president is elected by an electoral college indirectly. But the electoral college is elected directly. The British prime minister is elected by ruling party, but British members of the parliament are elected in general elections.

In these cases, the principle of equal suffrage does not seem to follow a fixed rule. In some parliaments or legislatures, the numbers of seats may be proportional to the number of voters. But the US Senate has 100 seats equally distributed to 50 states - instead of by voter numbers. Regardless of the differences of larger or smaller states, each state has two seats. These differences are yet another example of why international standards cannot be blindly implemented.

Finally, the appointment of the CE by the central government needs to be discussed. At a national level, the British prime minister is appointed by the Queen, and the Japanese prime minister by the Mikado. But the situation is quite different for the US president.

On the mainland, at a regional level, mayors of municipalities under the central government and the heads of provinces are not appointed. But in Hong Kong the CE is appointed by the central government in accordance with Article 45(1) of the Basic Law. This again shows there are no international standards operating.

So after discussing the five processes, we can conclude that international standards of universal and equal suffrage do not need to be applied in Hong Kong - except in the case of the CE election - by one person, one vote.

The author is a HK veteran commentator and professor at the Research Center of Hong Kong and Macao Basic Law, Shenzhen University.

(HK Edition 04/22/2014 page9)