The election for the chief executive will not take place until at least October, according to the panel responsible for preparations.
According to a gazette notice on Monday, a separate election for electors for the city’s leader is slated to take place on 11 August.
The existing electoral rules stipulate that the two elections should be at least 60 days apart.
Song Man Lei, a judge of the Court of Final Appeal, told media on the sidelines of an inauguration ceremony that the government would issue an executive order to reveal the exact date of the chief executive election.
Song pledged to complete all the necessary electoral preparations in time, admitting to being “a bit behind” compared to previous editions.
“As long as all work is done within the timeframe specified by law, it is not considered late,” the judge said.
The last electors’ race took place in June, and the election for the chief executive in August.
The panel is expected to convene its first meeting later this week.
The forthcoming elections will also be the first to be subject to new legal rules designed to ensure candidates’ loyalty to the country with a vetting process.
Anyone running for the city’s top job must be a Chinese national aged 40 or older and live in the city for at least 20 years in a row. His electing body is made up of 400 electors from four different sectors.
The first sector – commerce and finance – comprises 120 seats in total, whilst the second sector consists of 115 electors in culture, education, professional services, and sports.
The third sector consists of 115 from labour, social services, and religion.
The last sector includes legislators, national lawmakers, national advisers, as well as members of the Municipal Affairs Bureau.
