e-magazine
Sowing the Seed
China is creating a more favorable environment for enterprising people
Current Issue
· Table of Contents
· Editor's Desk
· Previous Issues
· Subscribe to Mag
Subscribe Now >>
Opinion
World
Nation
Business
Finance
Market Watch
Legal-Ease
North American Report
Forum
Government Documents
Expat's Eye
Health
Sci-Tech
Lifestyle
Books
Movies
Backgrounders
Special
Photo Gallery
Blogs
Reader's Service
Learning with
'Beijing Review'
E-mail us
RSS Feeds
PDF Edition
Web-magazine
Reader's Letters
Make Beijing Review your homepage
Hot Links

Market Avenue
eBeijing

The Latest Headlines
The Latest Headlines
UPDATED: June 18, 2015
Hong Kong Lawmakers Still Divided over Reform
Share

Hong Kong's Legislative Council moved closer on Wednesday to a vote on the city's electoral reform plan.

Lawmakers on both sides of the political divide stood firm on their position during the first day of the reform motion reading.

The Hong Kong government moved a motion to overhaul the method to select the city's next chief executive, prescribed in an annex of the Basic Law.

The motion was moved 20 months after the creation of a special task force to run the electoral reform process.

More than 3 million registered voters in the city will be able to elect the next chief executive by "one person, one vote" next year if more than 46 lawmakers out of the total of 70 vote for the motion.

But 27 opposition members and Leung Kalau, an independent lawmaker representing doctors, vowed earlier to veto the proposal.

Senior local officials made a last-minute pitch in the council chamber on Wednesday before the deliberations began, with Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor stressing that the electoral overhaul plan is the best possible option.

Lam said that under this plan, aspirants for the top job will put forward manifestos that "better address the needs of the masses".

She recognized efforts by some to forge consensus, but said the opposition camp's advocacy of "unconstitutional proposals" and the "Occupy Central" campaign last year had added obstacles to the city's first universal suffrage election - a goal promised in the Basic Law.

Justice Secretary Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung dismissed fears that the election design will be set "forever", saying a statutory mechanism to optimize the election methods is provided for under the Basic Law.

Twenty-five lawmakers spoke before the meeting was adjourned at 8 pm. All the legislators who spoke reiterated their position on the reform package, including 16 opposition members who promised to exercise their veto power.

Starry Lee Wai-king, head of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, accused organizers and supporters of the illegal occupation movement of not respecting the Constitution and the Basic Law.

The Civic Party's Ronny Tong Ka-wah agreed that the opposition's attitude was an obstacle to consensus.

Outside the council head-quarters, hundreds of people from all walks of life voiced their support for the reform proposals.

(China Daily June 17, 2015)



 
Top Story
-The Market Calls the Shots
-Will the 'China Miracle' Continue?
-Dishonest Abe
-Evasive Maneuvers?
-Final Death Toll of China Capsized Cruise Ship at 442
Most Popular
在线翻译
About BEIJINGREVIEW | About beijingreview.com | Rss Feeds | Contact us | Advertising | Subscribe & Service | Make Beijing Review your homepage
Copyright Beijing Review All right reserved