Lawrence Ma, barrister and chairman of Hong Kong Legal Exchange Foundation, said that the new candidate qualification review committee will exclusively comprise principal officials from the government. And that only patriots are qualified to run doesn't mean that the opponents no longer have a voice in Hong Kong's political process. "So long as he or she is a patriot, then that person can run. So, many of the democrats in Hong Kong would be able to qualify, and would be able to voice out a different opinion in the future," he said.