Luen Thai CEO Henry Tan was elected one of the members of the Election Committee in Hong Kong on December 10, 2006. As a member of the committee, he has a mandate to choose the territory’s new Chief Executive in March 2007 election.
Mr. Tan garnered 558 votes, the 4th highest among 12 newly elected members of the textiles and garment sub-sector.
The Election Committee consists of 800 members who are all Hong Kong permanent residents. The members are drawn from 38 sub-sectors representing various trades, professions, labor and social welfare groups as well as district organizations. The committee is a creation of the British and Chinese governments ahead of the territory's switch of sovereignty from London to Beijing in 1997.
Of the 800 members, 664 were elected from 35 sub-sectors and 40 nominated by the religious sub-sector. The rest were ex-officio members composing of Hong Kong deputies to the National People's Congress and Legislative Council members.
A tiny proportion – 200,000 eligible voters – of Hong Kong's population of nearly seven million voted for the members of the Election Committee. Eligible voters only picked their own sector's representative.
China’s leadership hailed the election as a sign of the city's commitment to democracy.
Chief Executive Donald Tsang now heads the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. He officially took office on June 21, 2005 after China’s State Council announced the approval. Former Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa tendered his resignation on March 12, 2005, citing ill health.