The following is issued on behalf of the Electoral Affairs Commission:

     Notices on the nomination and appointment of the Returning Officer for the fifth term Chief Executive Election were published in the Gazette today (December 23).

     The Chief Executive Election will be held on March 26, 2017. The nomination period will run from February 14 to March 1, 2017.

     A Hong Kong Special Administrative Region permanent resident who is a Chinese citizen, with no right of abode in any foreign country, has reached 40 years of age and has ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than 20 years, is eligible for nomination as a candidate. Details on the eligibility and disqualification for nomination as a candidate are set out in sections 13 and 14 respectively of the Chief Executive Election Ordinance.

     A candidate's nomination must be subscribed by not less than 150 members of the Election Committee.
 
     Madam Justice Carlye Chu Fun-ling, Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of the High Court, has been appointed by the Electoral Affairs Commission as the Returning Officer for the election.

     A candidate must submit the completed nomination form in person to the Returning Officer at the Registration and Electoral Office (REO) on 10/F, Harbour Centre, 25 Harbour Road, Wan Chai, from 9am to 5pm on Mondays to Fridays, and from 9am to noon on Saturdays, during the nomination period. Nomination forms are available at the abovementioned address and can be downloaded from the REO website (www.reo.gov.hk).

     For enquiries, please call the election hotline on 2891 1001.

Ends/Friday, December 23, 2016
Issued at HKT 11:00

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