The Wall Street Journal
January 8, 2015
“Seize the opportunity,” urged the Hong Kong government in a new slogan, as it kicked off a new round of public consultations on Wednesday over how the city’s top official will be elected in 2017.
The government’s critics may do just that.
The latest public consultation on election reforms, originally scheduled to start in October, is poised to become the latest political battleground in a city only a few weeks removed from pro-democracy protests that paralyzed key commercial areas and attracted global attention.
The consultation was delayed as a result of the protests, which broke out in September after China’s top legislative body, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, insisted that candidates for Hong Kong’s chief executive be selected by a Beijing-friendly nominating committee. Protesters demanded that the decision be rescinded and called for chief executive candidates to be nominated by popular vote.
The protests ended in December without any concessions from Beijing, and the consultation, which will last two months, doesn’t leave much room for changes that would please those who want to see a more democratic election in 2017. The public will be allowed to offer opinions on the formation of the nominating committee, but the NPC has ruled that it will stay at 1,200 members and it is widely expected to be dominated by pro-Beijing and pro-business interests.
A group of pro-democracy lawmakers walked out of the Legislative Council chamber as the city’s No. 2 official, Carrie Lam, announced the start of the consultation, shouting “I want true universal suffrage” on their way out and raising yellow umbrellas, the symbol of the pro-democracy Occupy movement. In a statement, 23 lawmakers said they would boycott this round of consultation in protest against the “fake universal suffrage” accorded by Beijing’s decision.
The reform package must be passed by a two-thirds majority in the Legislative Council after the consultation period, slated for the second quarter of this year. The pro-democracy camp has enough votes to veto it.
“This is the most difficult of the five steps” of the constitutional reform process, said Ms. Lam. “I hope, and deeply believe, that no matter what party you belong to or what your personal beliefs are, you will cast your vote based on the wishes of the people of Hong Kong.”
She said a veto by lawmakers of the package would be denying millions of eligible voters in Hong Kong their right to elect the chief executive. She also argued that the 2017 election is not the end of Hong Kong’s path of constitutional reform, but lays the groundwork for reforms in future elections.
The NPC has made it clear that if the reform package is not passed by Hong Kong’s legislature, the chief executive will be elected by the existing method in 2017.
