政制及內地事務局 | |
Agency overview | |
---|---|
Formed | 2007 |
Headquarters | 12/F and 13/F, East Wing, Central Government Offices, 2 Tim Mei Avenue, Tamar, Hong Kong |
Minister responsible | |
Deputy Minister responsible |
|
Agency executive |
|
Parent agency | Chief Secretary for Administration |
Website | cmab.gov.hk |
Politics and government of Hong Kong |
Related topics Hong Kongportal |
Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Traditional Chinese | 政制及內地事務局 | ||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 政制及内地事务局 | ||||||||||||
|
The Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau is a ministerial-level policy bureaux of the Government of Hong Kong responsible for the implementation of the Basic Law,including electoral matters and promotion of equal opportunities and privacy protection. [1] The bureau also functions as the intermediary between the HKSAR Government and the Central People's Government and other Mainland authorities under the principles of "One Country,Two Systems", [2] including the coordination of liaison between the HKSAR Government and Central authorities,promoting regional co-operation initiatives between Hong Kong and the Mainland,and overseeing the operation of offices of the HKSAR Government on the Mainland. [1]
The bureau is headed by the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs,Mr Erick Tsang.
The former Constitutional Affairs Branch was formed by a reorganisation of the Government Secretariat in 1989. Upon the handover on 1 July 1997,the Branch was renamed the Constitutional Affairs Bureau. Under Donald Tsang's re-organisation of the Government Secretariat in 2007,the Bureau was renamed the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau to reflect the Bureau's portfolio for coordination of the HKSAR’s relationship with the Mainland. In the re-organisation,the Bureau was also assigned portfolios relating to human rights and access to information as guaranteed in the Basic Law. [3]
The Bureau has been responsible for Hong Kong's electoral reforms. Since the 1994 electoral reform,the Secretary for Constitutional Affairs has represented the Government in moving government bills for amending electoral laws in the Legislative Council. Pursuant to the last electoral reform sparked by amendment of Annexes I and II of the Basic Law by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on 31 March 2021,the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau introduced the Improving Electoral System (Consolidated Amendments) Bill 2021 to the Legislative Council to amend local legislations accordingly. [4] The Bureau released the Green Paper on Constitutional Development in July 2007 for public consultation on the options,roadmap and timetable for implementing universal suffrage for Chief Executive elections and Legislative Council elections. [5]
The Bureau has also set up offices in the Mainland and Taiwan,including the Beijing Office of the HKSAR Government,Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices on the Mainland and the Hong Kong Economic,Trade and Cultural Office in Taipei. [6]
In October 2020,Apple Daily reported that the agency had ordered government departments to report any public sightings of the Republic of China flag,and to remove the flags when the public or media are not around. [7]
In April 2022,the department revealed it had spent more than HK$16,000,000 on publicity to promote the 2021 Hong Kong electoral changes. [8]
In May 2023, Hong Kong Free Press released an article,which discovered that the CMAB had funded the Equal Opportunities (Sexual Orientation) Funding Scheme since 2003,with some of the money going to groups that promoted changes to sexual orientation. [9]
In May 2023,the CMAB submitted proposals to forbid insulting the Hong Kong flag,both in real life and on the internet. [10]
The following are agencies which are related to this bureau. [11]
Politics and government of Hong Kong |
Related topics Hong Kongportal |
The Registration and Electoral Office (REO) (Chinese :選舉事務處) [12] is a department under the jurisdiction of the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau (CMAB) of the Hong Kong Government. [13] It is also an administrative support organisation of the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC), which assists the implementation of the statutory rights under the Electoral Affairs Commission Ordinance. [14]
The REO assists members of the public to register as electors, dividing constituencies, and formulating electoral regulations and guidelines for election activities. The elections of Chief Executive, Election Committee, Legislative Council and District Council are all managed by the office. [15] However, the REO is a logistics department and has no decision-making power on the electoral policy as the decision-making power is vested in the EAC.
The REO is headed by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), who is assisted by the Principal Electoral Officers (PEO) and the Chief Systems Manager (CSM). The head office is at the Treasury Building in Cheung Sha Wan, with several other divisions at the Millennium City in Kwun Tong and Kowloonbay International Trade & Exhibition Centre in Kowloon Bay. [16]Eligible residents may submit an application for new voter registration, and registered voters may report on change of registration particulars at any time of the year. However, electors who wish to have their registration processed or their information updated in the same cycle or to be listed in the final registers, they must submit their application forms to the Registration and Electoral Office on or before the statutory deadlines.
Type of Application | Statutory Deadlines | |
New Voter Registration | District Council Election year (e.g. 2023): | 2 July |
Non District Council Election year (e.g. 2020, 2021 & 2022): | 2 May | |
Report on Change of Particulars by an Elector | District Council Election year (e.g. 2023): | 2 June |
Non District Council Election year (e.g. 2020, 2021 & 2022): | 2 April |
Hong Kong has seen a major surge in voter registrations, particularly among young people. Nearly 386,000 people have registered to vote in the past year, a record high since the handover of Hong Kong. [17] The Registration & Elector Office updates and publishes the Final Registers every year. [18]
Year | No. of Electors in the Final Registers | Changes (YoY%) |
---|---|---|
2020 | 4,466,944 [19] | 8.08% |
2019 | 4,132,977 [20] | 8.35% |
2018 | 3,814,318 | 0.24% |
2017 | 3,805,069 | 0.69% |
2016 | 3,779,085 | 2.30% |
2015 | 3,693,942 | 5.31% |
2014 | 3,507,786 | 1.05% |
2013 | 3,471,423 | 0.15% |
2012 | 3,466,201 | -2.65% |
2011 | 3,560,535 | 3.76% |
2010 | 3,431,592 | 1.73% |
2009 | 3,373,342 | 0.04% |
2008 | 3,372,007 | 2.31% |
2007 | 3,295,826 | 3.45% |
2006 | 3,185,927 | -0.92% |
2005 | 3,215,522 | 0.26% |
2004 | 3,207,227 | 7.86% |
2003 | 2,973,612 | 2.20% |
2002 | 2,909,594 | -3.25% |
2001 | 3,007,244 |
The politics of Hong Kong takes place in a framework of a political system dominated by its quasi-constitutional document, the Hong Kong Basic Law, its own legislature, the Chief Executive as the head of government and of the Special Administrative Region and of a politically constrained multi-party presidential system. The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China is led by the Chief Executive, the head of government.
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the executive authorities of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 July 1997, following the handover of Hong Kong.
The chief executiveof the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and head of the Government of Hong Kong. The position was created to replace the office of Governor of Hong Kong, the representative of the Monarch of the United Kingdom during British colonial rule. The office, as stipulated by the Hong Kong Basic Law, formally came into being on 1 July 1997 with the handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China. The chief executive is head of the executive branch of the Hong Kong government.
The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, colloquially known as LegCo, is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under China's "one country, two systems" constitutional arrangement, and is the power centre of Hong Kong's hybrid representative democracy, though popular representation in the legislature has diminished significantly in recent years, along with its political diversity.
Elections in Hong Kong take place when certain political offices in the government need to be filled. Hong Kong has a multi-party system, with numerous parties in the Legislative Council. The Chief Executive of Hong Kong is nonpartisan but can work with several parties to form a coalition government.
Legislative elections are held in Hong Kong every four years Legislative Council (LegCo) in accordance with Article 69 of the Basic Law. Legislative elections are held either at the expiry of a four-year term or when the Chief Executive dissolves the legislature and calls a new election.
The Election Committee is the electoral college in Hong Kong that selects the Chief Executive (CE) and, since 2021, elects 40 of the 90 members of the Legislative Council. Established by Annex I of the Basic Law of Hong Kong which states that "the Chief Executive shall be elected by a broadly representative Election Committee in accordance with this Law and appointed by the Central People's Government ." It is formed and performs its selection function once every five years, even in the event of a CE not completing their term. The membership of the Election Committee was expanded to 1,500 under the massive overhaul of the electoral system in 2021. The Election Committee has been criticised for its "small-circle" electoral basis and its composition favouring pro-Beijing and business interests.
The Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor (HKHRM) is a local non-governmental organisation which was established in April 1995. It aims to promote better human rights protection in Hong Kong.
The Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) is the body, established under the Electoral Affairs Commission Ordinance, that oversees electoral matters in Hong Kong. Its main functions include considering or reviewing the boundaries of Legislative Council geographical constituencies and constituencies of the 18 District Councils for the purpose of making recommendations, and overseeing the conduct and supervision of elections and regulating the procedures at an election. It is also responsible for supervision of the registration of electors and the promotional activities relating to registration.
The Hong Kong and Macau Work Office, concurrently known as the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council (HMO), is an administrative office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party responsible for promoting cooperation and coordination of political, economic, and cultural ties between mainland China and the Chinese Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau. It was formed in 2023 on the basis of then State Council's HKMAO. Its head office is in Xicheng District, Beijing.
Eric Chan Kwok-ki is a Hong Kong politician who is the incumbent Chief Secretary for Administration since 1 July 2022. He was also the secretary-general of the Committee for Safeguarding National Security (2020–2022). Previously, he served as Director of the Chief Executive's Office (2017–2022) and Director of Immigration (2011–2016).
Alice Mak Mei-kuen is a Hong Kong politician, currently serving as Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs. She was formerly a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong for the Election Committee, representing the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions. She graduated from Department of English of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She has been a member of the Kwai Tsing District Council since 1993, and represented the Wai Ying constituency until 2019.
Erick Tsang Kwok-wai is a Hong Kong government official. Since 2020, he has been Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, one of the principal officials of Hong Kong. Prior to that, he was Director of Immigration.
Fung Tak is one of the 25 constituencies in the Wong Tai Sin District in Hong Kong. The constituency returns one district councillor to the Wong Tai Sin District Council, with an election every four years.
The 2021 Hong Kong electoral changes were initiated by the National People's Congress (NPC) on 11 March 2021 to "amend electoral rules and improve the electoral system" of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) for its Chief Executive (CE) and the Legislative Council (LegCo), in order to ensure a system in which only "patriots", according to the Chinese definition, govern Hong Kong. The reforms have been widely criticized for their negative impact on the democratic representation in the Hong Kong legislature.
The Hong Kong Island West geographical constituency is one of the ten geographical constituencies in the elections for the Legislative Council of Hong Kong which elects two members of the Legislative Council using the single non-transferable vote (SNTV) system. The constituency covers Central and Western Districts and Southern District of Hong Kong Island and Islands District in the New Territories.
The Hong Kong Island East geographical constituency is one of the ten geographical constituencies in the elections for the Legislative Council of Hong Kong which elects two members of the Legislative Council using the single non-transferable vote (SNTV) system. The constituency covers Eastern District and Wan Chai District on Hong Kong Island.
The administration of John Lee as Chief Executive of Hong Kong, or Lee administration, officially referred to as "The 6th term Chief Executive of Hong Kong" relates to the period of governance of Hong Kong headed by Chief Executive John Lee, starting from 1 July 2022.
The Registration and Electoral Office (REO) is a department under the jurisdiction of the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau (CMAB) of the Hong Kong Government. It is also an administrative support organisation of the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC), which assists the implementation of the statutory rights under the Electoral Affairs Commission Ordinance.
The 2023 Hong Kong District Council elections were held on 10 December 2023 for all 18 District Councils of Hong Kong, electing 264 of the 470 seats in the councils. Under the new electoral system, 88 of the elected 264 seats were directly elected by 4.3 million voters, while 176 of them were indirectly elected among some 2,400 members of the government-appointed District Committees. More than one-third of the remaining seats were appointed by the Chief Executive.
Voter Registration Division, Information Technology Management Unit, Elections Division 2 and Administration Division 12 & 13/F Kowloonbay International Trade and Exhibition Centre, 1 Trademart Drive, Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong