The election for the Hong Kong deputies to the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) was held on 19 December 2012. 36 Hong Kong deputies were elected by an electoral college composed of 1,620 members.
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Background
Article 21 of the Hong Kong Basic Law stipulates:
Chinese citizens who are residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall be entitled to participate in the management of state affairs according to law. In accordance with the assigned number of seats and the selection method specified by the National People's Congress, the Chinese citizens among the residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall locally elect deputies of the Region to the National People's Congress to participate in the work of the highest organ of state power.
A 1,620-strong electoral college composed of the following:
Overview
The election took place at the second plenary meeting of the 12th National People's Congress election meeting on 19 December. It was attended by Li Jianguo, vice-chairman and secretary-general of the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) as the representative of the NPCSC, and presided by Leung Chun-ying, executive chairman of the 19-strong presidium which included former Chief Executives Tung Chee-hwa and Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, as well as Asia's richest man, Li Ka-shing, and Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) chairman Tam Yiu-chung.
52 candidates ran for 36 seats with 23 outgoing delegates, including Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai, member of the NPCSC, Maria Tam Wai-chu, deputy convenor of the Hong Kong delegation, and Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun, Executive Council member and Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's former top aide. New faces included former Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee Siu-kwong and Li Yinquan, vice-president of the China Merchants Group. Only two contenders are pan-democrats, Fong King-lok, executive committee member of the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union and Dutch-born Southern District councillor Paul Zimmerman, who quit the Civic Party in summer.
1,488 of the 1,620 electoral college members cast their votes. Each elector had to choose 36 candidates. The top 36 candidates in the ballot, as long as they receive more than 50 per cent support, would be elected. 36 of the 52 candidates were elected while 7 candidates were elected as supplementary deputies.