The government announced a proposal in May to scrap by-elections for the Legislative Council (Legco, Hong Kong's legislature), arguing that the resignation, death or disqualification of a member should lead to the second-highest placed candidate in the previous Legco election taking the seat. The proposal has been opposed by the pro-democratic parties; Emily Lau, the vice-chair of the largest of them, the Democratic Party (DP), described the idea as moving Hong Kong closer to China's non-democratic political system. Opponents of the proposal have argued that it contravenes the Basic Law (Hong Kong's mini-constitution).

Hong Kong's Legco comprises both directly elected "geographical constituency" seats (elected on the basis of proportional representation) and "functional constituency" seats elected by business and social interest groups rather than by the general public. The government clarified that by-elections would still occur when replacement members were required for functional-constituency seats, as these are not filled by proportional representation (and, in any case, tend to be occupied by broadly pro-government members).

The government has also pointed to opposition from the public to the tactics of pro-democracy parties, which triggered by-elections last year to protest against government policies. This appears to be the main driver for the proposal. The proposed change would apply to the Legco that will meet from October 2012, but would require an amendment to the Legislative Council Ordinance, which the government said would be implemented as soon as possible.