HONG KONG—Pan-democrats in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo) have said they will veto a Beijing reform package that would restrict Hongkongers’ universal suffrage for the 2017 Chief Executive election.
Pan-democrats make up 40 percent of the LegCo, and the package would have to be passed in the LegCo with a two-thirds majority before it could be submitted to Beijing for approval.
The National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) decided last Aug. 31 that Hongkongers can elect their Chief Executive in 2017 as long as a Beijing-controlled committee nominates all the candidates. Recent comments from Beijing officials show that they still support this decision.
Zhang Dejiang, NPCSC chairman and director of Hong Kong and Macao Affairs, attended the joint meeting of Hong Kong and Macao on March 4 during the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Several CPPCC members from Hong Kong quoted Zhang’s remarks after the meeting.
CPPCC Standing Committee member Peter Woo Kwong-ching reported that Zhang said the Aug. 31 resolution was the constitutional basis for electing the Chief Executive.
“He reaffirmed that the 8.31 resolution is about the decision right of the central government over the election of the chief executive, which must have its own constitutional basis,” Woo said.
Chan Wing Kee, a member of the CPPCC Standing Committee, quoted Zhang Dejiang as saying that the electoral reform package had entered the final stage, and “the key is whether the Legislative Council can pass the general suffrage bill proposed by the Hong Kong SAR Government.”
