Hong Kong’s electoral overhaul endorsed by the country’s top legislature on Tuesday saw the elimination of district councillor seats from the election committee, as well as the so-called district council superseats from the Legislative Council.
The changes, which also include reducing the number of Legco seats through direct, geographical elections, were announced after a two-day meeting of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC).
They include having Legislative Council, Chief Executive, and election committee candidates undergo a strict vetting process, which includes the police.
The amendments to the two Basic Law annexes will come into effect on Wednesday.
Young, who’s a Central and Western district councillor, said Hong Kong needed to play by the rules.
“It’s something that we have to accept and I really do support it because at the end of the day residents chose us to represent their district – not to represent them voting for the Chief Executive,” Young told RTHK.
“That’s the electoral committee’s responsibility. If I want to run for that, I can still do that as a person – just not as a district councillor.”
He said the changes added clarity.
“So it’s a re-designing and realigning of responsibilities that clears things up a lot,” Young said.