Legislative Council

LC Paper No. CB(3) 109/98-99

Ref : CB(3)/SC/Airport/98

Paper for the House Committee meeting
on 24 July 1998

Procedure for election of the 13 members of the
Select Committee to inquire into matters relating to the
opening of the new airport at Chek Lap Kok


Purpose

This paper invites the House Committee to endorse the procedure for the election of the 13 members of the Select Committee that will be appointed to inquire into matters relating to the opening of the new airport at Chek Lap Kok.

Background

2. At the House Committee meeting held on 17 July 1998, Members endorsed the following recommendations of the Subcommittee formed to prepare for the setting up of the Select Committee to inquire into matters relating to the opening of the new airport at Chek Lap Kok :

  1. the size of the Select Committee should be 13 ;

  2. nomination of Members to the Select Committee should be made orally at the House Committee meeting on 24 July 1998, assuming that the Select Committee will be established by resolution in the Council on 29 July 1998 ;

  3. after the nomination of Members to the Select Committee, the House Committee should adjourn for 10 minutes to enable the nominated Members to consider which of them should be nominated as Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Select Committee ;

  4. the House Committee will then resume and be asked to endorse the proposed composition of the Select Committee ; and

  5. after the passage of the resolution on 29 July 1998, the Chairman of the House Committee will make a recommendation to the President on the chairmanship, deputy chairmanship and membership of the Select Committee.

Procedure for election of the 13 members of the Select Committee

3. It is recommended that the 13 members of the Select Committee be elected according to the following procedure :

  1. The Chairman of the House Committee calls for nominations from the floor at the House Committee meeting on 24 July 1998. A valid nomination shall be made orally by a Member, seconded by at least one other Member who should not be the Member being nominated, and accepted by the Member being nominated ;

  2. If there are 13 nominations, the Chairman of the House Committee shall declare the nominees elected and a recommendation for their appointment to the Select Committee will be made accordingly to the President ;

  3. If there are more than 13 nominations, the Chairman of the House Committee shall announce a vote by secret ballot. Ballot papers listing the names of all the nominees will then be prepared and issued to the Members present, including the Chairman of the House Committee ;

  4. A Member present who wishes to vote shall mark "" only in the boxes opposite the names of the 13 nominees of his choice on the ballot paper, and place the ballot paper into the ballot box. Any ballot paper not marked, not properly marked or marked with more than 13 "" shall be discarded ;

  5. After all the Members present who wish to vote have cast their votes, the Clerk to the House Committee shall arrange for the votes to be counted in front of all the Members present. She shall then report the result to the Chairman of the House Committee who shall check the result for confirmation ;

  6. The Chairman of the House Committee shall declare elected as members of the Select Committee the 13 Members who receive the highest number of votes among all the nominees ;

  7. If two or more nominees receive the same number of votes such that the House Committee cannot determine as to which 13 nominees should be recommended to the President for appointment to the Select Committee, the Chairman of the House Committee shall announce that the nominees who have received the highest number of votes be recommended for appointment. He shall then announce that regarding the remaining nominees who have received the same number of votes in the next highest order, lots will be drawn by him to decide which of them should be recommended to make up the full complement of 13 members of the Select Committee; and

  8. The Chairman of the House Committee shall then draw lots and in accordance with the result of the drawing of lots, forthwith declare the nominee(s) elected.

Election of members for recommendation to the President

4. Members are invited to endorse the election procedure in paragraph 3 above before the election takes place at the House Committee meeting on 24 July 1998.



Legislative Council Secretariat
21 July 1998