With nearly 1 million citizens having signed the petition against the "Occupy Central" campaign, it is time for organizers of the illegal movement to have second thoughts about it.

Fighting for an electoral mechanism outside the legal framework with a threat to paralyze Hong Kong's central business district in defiance of the law, "Occupy Central" advocates have hardly any legal or moral ground to stand on. They have had to resort to the pretext of the "popular will".

"Occupy Central" organizers are taking pride in the "high" turnout of the "Occupy Central referendum" which they sponsored last month. They claim the unexpected turnout - a total of around 800,000 people participating in the exercise - is a sign of popular support for their cause.

If popular opinion really is the element "Occupy Central" advocates hold dear as they claim, they simply can't turn a blind eye to the will of a larger number of citizens who disapprove of the campaign.

More than 930,000 signatures have been collected since the anti-"Occupy Central" movement "Sign for Peace and Democracy" was launched 10 days ago, according to Alliance for Peace and Democracy, who sponsored the campaign. Each signature has been submitted on a form that unmistakably states: "I oppose violence; I oppose 'Occupy Central'."

Now that "popular will" has become morally questionable, what other pretext can "Occupy Central" advocates use to promote their political agenda - an election mechanism of their own design for the Chief Executive election in 2017? Obviously, none is available. They have come to a dead-end.

A return to the legal framework - mainly the Basic Law and relevant decisions of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress - is the only logical alternative for the "Occupy Central" movement - as well as for the SAR - to end the current deadlock over the city's constitutional reform.

Societies with rule of law such as Hong Kong have no place for political blackmail and extortion. As reiterated by Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor in her first meeting with the three organizers of the "Occupy Central" movement on Tuesday, the central and SAR governments will never submit to coercion. The opposition camp should accept this: Hong Kong can only proceed with political reform within its legal framework.

(HK Edition 07/30/2014 page9)