Selecting the Chief Executive of Hong Kong in 2017

Abstract

In his Manifesto for the Chief Executive Election 2012 titled ‘One Heart, One Vision,’ the then candidate Mr C Y Leung declared his intention to achieve universal suffrage for the election of the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 2017. It is principally against this background that his failure to provide a concrete time table on this vexed issue in his maiden Policy Address on 16 January 2013 was criticized as a significant omission by members of the pro-democracy camp.

Taking cognizance of the stipulations in the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the decision of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee of 29 December 2007, this article commences with a review of the background of the issue before advancing a possible model for the selection of the Chief Executive by universal suffrage in 2017.

Keywords: Constitutional Reform, Election of Chief Executive, Hong Kong

JEL Classification: Z00