The election for the President of the Sixth Legislative Council took place on 12 October 2016 for members of the

6th Legislative Council of Hong Kong The Sixth Legislative Council of Hong Kong was the sixth meeting of the legislative branch of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. Running from 1 October 2016 to 31 December 2021, it was the longest legislative session in Hong ...

to among themselves elect the

President of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong The president of the Legislative Council is the presiding officer of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. According to the Article 71 of the Hong Kong Basic Law, the president of the Legislative Council is elected by and from among Legislativ ...

for the duration of the Council.

Background

According to Article 71 of the

Hong Kong Basic Law The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China is a national law of China that serves as the organic law for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Comprising nine chapters, 160 ...

and Rule 4 of the Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Council, the President of the Legislative Council has to be a Chinese citizen of 40 years old or above, a permanent resident of Hong Kong with no right of abode in any foreign country, and has ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for not less than 20 years continuously. However, the

Pro-Beijing camp The pro-Beijing camp, pro-establishment camp, pro-government camp or pro-China camp refers to a political alignment in Hong Kong which generally supports the policies of the Beijing central government and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) t ...

candidate

Andrew Leung Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen (; born 24 February 1951) is a Hong Kong politician who is the current President of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (Legco), representing the Industrial (First) functional constituency. From October 2012 to October ...

had been British since the 1980s and hence would not be eligible to run for president should he not renounce his

British citizenship British nationality law prescribes the conditions under which a person is recognised as being a national of the United Kingdom. The six different classes of British nationality each have varying degrees of civil and political rights, due to the ...

Pro-democracy camp The pro-democracy camp, also known as the pan-democracy camp, is a political alignment in Hong Kong that supports increased democracy, namely the universal suffrage of the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council as given by the Basic L ...

lawmakers questioned his nationality and demanded the "declaration of renunciation", a document issued by the UK Home Office.

Proceedings

Since

James To James To Kun-sun (; ; born 11 March 1963) is a Hong Kong lawyer and Democratic Party politician. From 1991 to 2020, To was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, representing the District Council (Second) constituency. In his fina ...

who was the most senior member contested in the election,

Leung Yiu-chung Leung Yiu-chung (, born 19 May 1953) is a Hong Kong politician. He is a member of the pro-labour Neighbourhood and Worker's Service Centre, part of the pan-democracy camp, and a former long-time member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong ...

presided over the special forum and the election. Held on 11 October 2016, the special forum allowed candidates to present their manifesto and answer questions from other members. During the actual election on 12 October, Leung said the absence of provisions in the Rules of Procedures meant that no legal clarifications or explanations could be sought from the legal adviser or other staff. As such, he claimed that he could not preside over the meeting if his questions were not resolved and left the meeting. As the second most senior member who did not run for president, Abraham Shek took the chair for the rest of the election. Shek swiftly ordered the ballots to be distributed despite some members shouting in protest. Opposition councillors boycotted the election and walked out the chamber without attending the vote count.

Candidates

Results

Abraham Shek announced that

was duly elected at 17:30. Before adjourning the meeting, Leung said he accepted the position with a heavy heart and hoped there would be more communication across both camps.

Notes

References

{{Authority control 2016 Hong Kong legislative election 2016 elections in China October 2016 events in China 2016 in Hong Kong President of the Hong Kong Legislative Council elections