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Prospective candidates running for the first Legislative Council election of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region may hand in nomination papers from this Thursday (April 9) to April 24.

All 60 members of the Legislative Council will be returned by elections on May 24: 20 of them will be returned by five geographical constituencies through direct elections; 30 of them by 28 functional constituencies and the remaining 10 by an 800-member Election Committee.

Nomination forms for different constituencies and the Election Committee are available at the Registration and Electoral Office on the 10th floor of Harbour Centre, 25 Harbour Road, Wan Chai and the 27th floor of Wanchai Tower, 12 Harbour Road, and at the Hong Kong SAR Government Information Centre website.

Forms for geographical constituencies are also obtainable at 18 District Offices. Forms for functional constituencies may be obtained from the 18 District Offices and relevant Returning Officers while forms for the Election Committee are available from its Returning Officer.

Completed forms should be handed in to the relevant Returning Officer in person by a candidate, and in the case of geographical constituencies, by one of the candidates on a list, during office hours within the nomination period.

A spokesman for the Registration and Electoral Office advised prospective candidates to submit nomination forms as early as possible so that any mistakes found in the nomination forms may be corrected before the close of nominations.

Each geographical constituency list must be subscribed by at least 100 registered electors of the constituency concerned. Each elector may subscribe to the nomination of only one list. A nomination paper must be accompanied by an election deposit of $50,000.

Except for the Urban Council or Regional Council Functional Constituency (where at least five subscribers are needed), a nomination for the other 26 functional constituencies and the Election Committee requires at least 10 subscribers.

Each elector of a functional constituency or the Election Committee is entitled to subscribe to as many nominations as there are seats in the constituency concerned or the Election Committee.

Each candidate for the functional constituencies or the Election Committee must pay an election deposit of $25,000.

The spokesman reminded prospective candidates to include more than the minimum required number of subscribers in their nomination forms to avoid the risk of their nominations being invalidated should any subscribers be found not to be qualified as subscribers.

"A nomination form should be accompanied by a promissory oath," he said.

A candidate cannot be nominated for more than one constituency/Election Committee.

To qualify as a candidate for a geographical constituency or the Election Committee, a person must

* have reached 21 years of age;

* be a registered elector of a geographical constituency;

* have ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for the three years immediately before the nomination;

* be a Chinese citizen who is a permanent resident of Hong Kong with no right of abode in any country other than China; and

* not be disqualified from being elected as a Legislative Councillor by virtue of any other law.

In the case of a functional constituency candidate, in addition to satisfying the above requirements, he must also be a registered elector of the functional constituency concerned or have a substantial connection with that constituency.

However, under the Legislative Council Ordinance, candidature in 12 functional constituencies is open to Hong Kong permanent residents who are not of Chinese nationality or who have the right of abode in foreign countries, the spokesman pointed out.

These 12 functional constituencies are Legal; Accountancy; Engineering; Architectural, Surveying and Planning; Real Estate and Construction; Tourism; Commercial (First); Industrial (First); Finance; Financial Services; Import and Export, and Insurance.

Enquiries on the nomination procedure may be made on the election hotline - 2588 1212.

End/Monday, April 6, 1998