Corporate voting in proposed Hong Kong nominating committee won't be abolished, Beijing official says

Days after a member of the national legislature's Basic Law Committee said corporate voting could be abolished in the proposed nominating body for the 2017 chief executive election, another committee member was quoted yesterday as saying that could not happen.

Committee vice-chairman Zhang Rongshun contradicted his colleague, Peking University law professor Rao Geping, who said on Saturday that corporate voting could be abolished if the Legislative Council approved the government's reform package.

Some observers and commentators see that proposed change as a way to give Hongkongers more say over who picks their candidates, opening the door to compromise on the plan.

The nominating committee described in Beijing's election framework, and which is included in the city's reform package, is similar to the Election Committee that chose Leung Chun-ying as chief executive in 2012.

That body consists of 1,200 members from 38 sub-sectors, many of whose representatives were elected by corporate votes rather than individuals working in a particular trade.

Pan-democratic lawmakers have vowed to reject the package, which they say would deprive voters of a genuine choice.