Bouquets and brickbats for HK's functional constituencies

I expected the turnout at Sunday's Legislative Council election to be low. This was because of a lack of confidence on the part of voters, not just in the government, but also in the legislators and the electoral system. It reflected discontent at grass-roots level.

It is now time to review the system and make whatever improvements are required before the next Legco election.

As some people in the know have already pointed out, it is time to get rid of the functional constituencies. This is because people elected from within their own profession or trade, often uncontested, tend to protect their own vested interests. This is detrimental to society as a whole. Besides, it is unfair that people from particular professions are allowed an extra vote. To ensure social justice we must stick to one man one vote only.

Eligible voters who fail to cast their vote without plausible reasons should be subject to some form of penalty.

Peter Wei, Kwun Tong

Despite the wise words of Paul Serfaty pointing out my omissions ('House of Lords is different', September 9), the fact remains that if it is not undemocratic for Britain to have a totally unelected house in parliament, it is even less undemocratic for us to have at least partially-elected functional constituencies. In 2020 candidates will be returned by universal suffrage, though not the direct-election version of it, thus becoming more democratic.