Hong Kong's Chief Secretary for Administration Rafael Hui announced on Wednesday the Fifth Report of the Constitutional Development Task Force at the Legislative Council (LegCo).

The report contains a package of proposals on Chief Executive selection for 2007 and LegCo formation for 2008.

On Chief Executive selection in 2007, the Task Force suggested increasing the number of members of the Election Committee from the present 800 to 1600.

Hui explained that the number of Election Committee members in the First, Second and Third Sectors would be increased from 200 to 300 respectively, and the number of Election Committee members in the Fourth Sector would be increased from 200 to 700, mainly by including all District Council members - appointed, ex-officio and elected members.

The report also suggests maintaining the number of nominees to one-eighth of total membership.

On LegCo formation in 2008, the Task Force suggested increasing the number of LegCo seats from 60 to 70. The number of seats returned by geographical constituencies through direct elections and by functional constituencies will each be increased to 35.

Hui said that public opinion contributed heavily to the development of the proposed package. Since its establishment in January 2004, the Task Force has published four reports with material collected from different sectors of the community.

He stressed: "The work of the Task Force can be said to be highly transparent."

Hui said that the main thrust of the proposed package is the enhanced level of participation of District Council members in the Election Committee and the LegCo.

He said half of the newly added members to the Election Committee and all the newly added LegCo seats will be determined either directly or indirectly by over 3 million voters in Hong Kong. Furthermore, close to 60 percent of the seats in the fourth term LegCo will be returned by geographical constituency elections.

The Task Force commissioned the Central Policy Unit to conduct an independent opinion poll to ascertain the level of public support for the main elements of the package. The poll was conducted by an independent opinion survey agency. The results suggest that the proposed package has won the support of the majority of the public, Hui added.

He said that the proposals strike a balance between the various views submitted by the different sectors of the community and the demands of the community for constitutional development.

(Xinhua News Agency October 20, 2005)