A local deputy to the country's top legislature yesterday said it was essential for Hong Kong to establish a relationship of confidence and trust with the central government before universal suffrage could happen in the SAR.

National People's Congress (NPC) deputy Maria Tam Wai-chu said it would be unrealistic to presume otherwise.

Speaking during a Cable News interview, Tam said confrontation would only further delay the introduction of universal suffrage for the election of the chief executive and the Legislative Council (LegCo). The interview was broadcast last night.

"Isn't the LegCo motion aimed at accusing the NPC Standing Committee?" Tam said of the pro-democracy camp's repeated attempts to embarrass the central government at LegCo.

"This does nothing good for building trust," she said. "If we can't build a relationship of trust with the central government, I'm afraid that we will still be in the same position as now 10 years later and it would be very hard for political reform to step forward."

"Should democrats win half of the LegCo seats in September and continue to oppose the government in matters of major popular interest, such as acts to eliminate deficits, the political development of Hong Kong would be hampered," she added.

To establish a relationship of trust, according to Tam, all concerned parties in Hong Kong - the civil service, the chief executive, legislators and others - must first have confidence in one another that they would abide by the Basic Law.

With that, Hong Kong can then demonstrate to the central government that the SAR is capable of upholding the Basic Law, she added.

"It's an organic question," she said.

"The biggest of all starts with the way of thinking. Many people still don't understand the role of their own," she said.

"The democracy in Hong Kong must be one that does not oppose the Communist Party, one that does not resist the central authority," Tam added.

She said Hong Kong was not ready for universal suffrage because there was yet a party that truly represented different sectors. The principle of balanced participation in the election by all sectors is an important factor, she said.

(HK Edition 05/20/2004 page2)