The opposition camp has grown increasingly vehement and uncompromising over the issue of moral and national education (MNE). Lately its aim is not only to blocking MNE from being introduced to primary and secondary schools, but seizing the governing power of Hong Kong as well.

For a start, the anti-MNE campaign is being used by the opposition camp as a tactic, which it hopes will win more seats in the Legislative Council (LegCo) election. Normally it is impossible for opposition parties to coordinate their election campaigns, due to differences of philosophy and conflicting interests among them. But with the anti-MNE campaign, they now have a common rallying cry.

As people have seen, besides a few young students who don't know better, most of those on a hunger strike outside the Government Complex are members of opposition parties. These party members no doubt will replace the students as lead actors in the political show soon enough.

The "anti-MNE alliance" formed to champion the offensive is not a real student group to begin with. It was assembled to include members of several opposition parties and their affiliates, including the Professional Teachers' Union, the Democratic Party, the Civic Party, the Citizen Movement, the League of Social Democrats and People Power, and spinoffs like the MNE Parent Concern Group and Scholarism.

By hijacking the anti-MNE controversy, the opposition parties aim to poison the social atmosphere before the LegCo election and make the SAR government look like the bad guy, hoping this will help weaken the popular support for pro government parties.

Secondly, the anti-MNE campaign is being used in an attempt to force Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's SAR government from office. The opposition camp has been trying non-stop to depose CE Leung with one ambush after another, such as blocking the government reorganization plan and digging up dirt on appointed senior officials. Some of these tactics apparently received help from foreign quarters. Otherwise, how could they have access to classified documents kept by the British colonial government decades ago?

The opposition camp has maintained an irreconcilable posture in the anti-MNE campaign to force the SAR government to withdraw the MNE program. It does not intend to stop until the government surrenders unconditionally. If the government did surrender, it would become a bona fide lame duck unable to accomplish anything unless the opposition allows it.

Finally, the anti-MNE campaign is being used to tarnish the image of the central government in the minds of Hong Kong residents, in the hope of gaining more room for the opposition to make political maneuvers. China is a developing country and has much room for improvement in political, economic, social and cultural development. But China is already considered the second strongest nation in the world and has what it takes to become the most powerful in the not-so-distant future.

The opposition camp, however, has adopted a strategy focused on magnifying various problems of the mainland to demonize the country, the central government and the ruling party in a bid to alienate Hong Kong residents from their mainland compatriots and turn them against the central government and the ruling party. Its ultimate goal with the anti-MNE campaign is to establish absolute political dominance in Hong Kong.

For the sake of Hong Kong's long-term prosperity and steady development, people must not harbor any illusions about appeasing the opposition over the anti-MNE campaign. Instead, proper but unhesitating measures should be taken to resolve the controversy.

The author is a veteran current affairs commentator.

(HK Edition 09/07/2012 page3)