Every vote has 2 effects: Stephen Lam

May 24, 2011

Secretary for Constitutional & Mainland Affairs Stephen Lam says every vote electors cast will have two effects under the replacement mechanism the Government has proposed to fill a vacant seat in the Legislative Council.
 
Speaking to the media today, Mr Lam said the first effect is that electors will select a Legislative Councillor to serve the public.
 
“Secondly, the more votes they cast for a particular candidate list, the higher the possibility of that candidate list being able to field a candidate as a replacement Legislative Councillor in future, if resignations or other vacancy situations arise,” he said.
 
“We are building this proposal on the basis of a proportional representation electoral system. This system will enable different lists of candidates to secure seats to the Legislative Council, and to secure the opportunity of allowing candidates on their lists to replace and to field any vacancies in future. So this is in consistency with the concept of proportional representation.”
 
The Government has proposed any vacancy arising during a four-year term of the Legislative Council be filled by the candidate list with the largest remainder of votes.