Hong Kong kingmakers? The 300 committee members with long history of voting for chief executives
As most Hongkongers wait for chance, we reveal the politicians, tycoons and religious leaders who have had a say in at least three elections
A quarter of the 1,200 people who got to vote for the city's leader in 2012 had held on to their roles for at least a decade, according to a study that indicated how likely it would be for others to join the nominating committee in future polls.
And most of those election veterans are delegates to the National People's Congress, Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference - loyalists appointed by Beijing - business tycoons and religious leaders.
They held either uncontested or ex-officio seats, making up 77 per cent of those who had voted in all four elections since 1996.
More openly representative sectors, by contrast, generally saw far fewer individuals clinging to power over a long time, the study showed.
"The NPC and CPPCC have formed the political core that exists to make Beijing feel safe," political pundit Dr James Sung Lap-kung said.
"The central authorities will make use of the [nominating committee in 2017] to continue to manipulate who can stand as candidates. In such a case, the chance of pan-democrats getting approval is zero."
