Hong Kong: Political Selection Process Upsets Some Protestants
By UCA News
Nominating potential Protestant representatives for the election of the chief executive of Hong Kong became controversial due recently to a new lottery arrangement which some deemed as unfair.
Certain Protestants have criticized a change from a general election to a lottery arrangement for an upcoming vote for the fifth term of Chief Executive by the 1,200 members of Election Committee (EC) in March of next year. They say the lottery arrangements will favor certain Protestant church groups — such as large ones — over others. One critic even went on hunger strike to oppose the new arrangement.
The Hong Kong Christian Council (HKCC), an ecumenical body of Christian churches in Hong Kong, drew 33 candidates from a lottery for the Election Committee out of 579 applicants in the first round on Oct. 30.
Protestant churches have 10 seats among 60 seats in the religious sub sector of the EC, which also include 10 seats each for representative Catholics, Taoists, Buddhists, Muslims and Confucianists.
Reverend Po Kam-cheong, HKCC secretary-general, noted that the council had always sought to be fair but added, “there would never be an absolute fair model.”
