Hong Kong Legislative Council election: technocrats make up better part of elite new constituency
- Six of the new lawmakers-elect from the Election Committee constituency are academics and researchers, while three are lawyers and two are engineers
- Constituency member Lai Tung-kwok, the security minister between 2009 and 2012, says lawmakers with expertise are a ‘very important part of the legislature’
Elites known for their technical expertise and managerial skills make up more than half of a new constituency intended by Beijing to boost diversity, the Post has found, but the elected members defended the need for such technocrats to solve the city’s problems.
Outnumbering any other single occupation, they were followed by lawyers and engineers as the next biggest groups. Most have no political party affiliations, according to the Post’s findings.
The results of the constituency’s election on Sunday caused a stir with some unexpected outcomes, raising questions on the authorities’ commitment to diversity. For example, the only two Caucasian candidates, including entertainment tycoon Allan Zeman, failed to get elected alongside two other grass-roots candidates – all despite state leader Xia Baolong’s earlier message that their inclusion demonstrated broad representativeness.
Meeting the press for the first time on Tuesday as a constituency, several of the 40 elected members stressed the significance of having highly educated and skilled specialists in their ranks.
Lai Tung-kwok, the city’s security minister between 2009 and 2012, argued that technocrats were a “very important part of the legislature”.
Other than legislators who brought other skills to the table, such as representing local grass-roots groups, technocrats had a lot to offer in specialised areas where their knowledge and expertise were critical to policymaking. “They can have a lot of contributions on specific areas, which are indispensable,” said the lawmaker-elect from the pro-Beijing New People’s Party.
