Pro-establishment lawmakers met Zhang Xiaoming, director of the Central People's Government's Liaison Office in the HKSAR, at a scheduled nocturnal tea gathering on Thursday.

It is no surprise that last week's walkout staged by pro-establishment lawmakers - a failed attempt to trigger a quorum call in the Legislative Council's historic vote on constitutional reform - was a key issue discussed at the tea gathering last night. Instead of blaming the lawmakers for the incident, Zhang praised them for doing their jobs under great pressure. They did this during Hong Kong's toughest, most controversial and longest-running electoral reform process.

As the saying goes - a coin has two sides. The walkout can be viewed from two perspectives. Objectively, it resulted from inexperience and a lack of communication. Clearly, it caused some unexpected political havoc - considering it was supposed to be the most significant vote in the LegCo chamber since the 1997 handover.

But on the positive side, people also need to remember that the pro-establishment legislators' strong support for the electoral reform proposals is absolutely beyond question. They are genuine patriots, staunch supporters and earnest practitioners of the "One Country, Two Systems" policy.

What has been done can't be undone. All one can do is face the present and then plan the future. It is hoped that the pro-establishment camp will learn from the experience and do better next time.

Obviously, the opposition may take delight in seeing an accident within the pro-establishment camp. But instead of ridiculing or criticizing parties in the pro-establishment camp, they should have the courage to put aside their differences and work together to help move Hong Kong forward.

Nothing is going to change the fact that pro-establishment camp is the most important force in maintaining Hong Kong's long-term prosperity and stability. The central government will never overlook the camp's great contribution to the constitutional reform process. It is the backbone of Hong Kong society and has clearly proved itself to be accountable and responsible. The opposition should undoubtedly take the blame for Hong Kong's failure to move forward with constitutional reform. The SAR will face a worrying future and a polarized society if political wrangling is allowed to continue.

It is time for the issue of constitutional reform to be put on the backburner and to refocus on developing the economy and improving people's livelihoods. But the public should be vigilant about a group of political fanatics doing real harm to Hong Kong under the pretext of advocating "genuine democracy".

(HK Edition 06/26/2015 page11)