Chief Secretary for Administration Henry Tang speaks to reporters Monday at a press conference. He said the two electoral packages have undergone extensive consultation in the LegCo and the community at large, and therefore, they stand the greatest chance of meeting with approval from the majority of citizens, the LegCo and the Central Government. EDMOND TANG / CHINA DAILY

Chief Secretary Tang sees end of June as 'right time' for vote on electoral packages

The SAR Government gave no ground Monday, as it introduced motions for revising Hong Kong's electoral system for the election of the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council (Legco) in 2012. The motions will be brought to a vote at the Legislative Council meeting on June 23.

The content and wording shows that the government remains unyielding to opposition demands for a clear timetable for universal suffrage and abolition of Functional Constituencies. The motions introduced are identical to the draft motions released on April 14.

The 23 pan-democrats, who hold a crucial one-third minority of 20 votes, immediately repeated earlier threats to vote down the reforms, blaming the government for failure to provide any concessions.

The motions seek to amend Annexes I & II of the Basic Law. The first motion aims to increase membership from 800 to 1,200 members as the Election Committee that will select the Chief Executive. The increased membership will be distributed equally among all four sectors of the Election Committee.

The second motion proposes an additional 10 lawmakers. These new seats are to be divided equally between the geographical and Functional Constituencies (FC), maintaining the 50-50 balance. The five new FC seats, together with the existing FC seats for the district council constituency, will be elected from among all elected district council members on the proportional representation system.

Speaking to the media later Monday, Chief Secretary for Administration Henry Tang said the two electoral packages have undergone extensive consultation in the LegCo and the community at large. He added that they also have solid support from the community.

"It is the right time to put the electoral packages to vote by the end of June," he said.

Tang also said the SAR Government has fought for the widest scope to put forward the packages, with the greatest possible flexibility, within the strict limitations imposed by the 2007 decision of the National People's Congress Standing Committee.

He added, the packages stand the greatest chance of meeting with approval from the majority of citizens, the LegCo and the Central Government. There is little room for concession, he said, except on the method of returning the new FC seats and the abolition of appointed district council members. These issues, however, will be dealt with at the domestic legislation stage.

"It is a critical moment of democratic development in Hong Kong. Whether it will move forward or stand still hinges on whether lawmakers will set aside differences and support the 2012 packages," adding that he will have deep regret if the packages are vetoed.

The pan-democrats Monday held a rally together with 38 community organizations. Civic Party leader Audrey Eu, who will debate Chief Executive Donald Tsang on June 17, said her party would vote against the packages. She also urged the government to withdraw the packages and come up with what she calls more democratic ones that move toward universal suffrage.

Democratic Party vice-chairman Emily Lau fumed that the government has not made any revision of the packages as originally proposed, showing that it has not listened to public opinion. The party will hold an Extraordinary General Meeting on June 21. She added that so far she has not heard of any member of her party who intends to support the packages.

Tam Yiu-chung, chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said he was not optimistic about passage of the electoral proposals. If the proposals are vetoed again, he went on, constitutional development will stand still for at least 10 years. He said he hoped the pan-democrats would change their stance and support the 2012 packages and leave the post-2012 issues to a later date.

Liberal Party chairperson Miriam Lau said the party would support the packages even though they are not ideal. She feared that if the packages were vetoed again, Hong Kong will continue to exhaust its energy internally and fall behind in the area of economic development.

China Daily

(HK Edition 06/08/2010 page1)