The procedure for introducing any change to the constitutional setup of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was stipulated in an interpretation of the Basic Law in April 2004 by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.
In case there is a need to amend the method of selecting the chief executive or the method of forming the Legislative Council, says the interpretation, the chief executive will submit a report to the standing committee, which will then take a decision in accordance with the provisions in the Basic Law and on the basis of the actual situation in Hong Kong, and the principle of gradual and orderly progress.
Bills and draft amendments regarding the revision of the methods for the selection of both will then be proposed to Legco by the SAR government.
Following the standing committee's interpretation, then chief executive Tung Chee-hwa submitted a report to the central government in the middle of April 2004, suggesting that methods for electing the chief executive in 2007 and Legco in 2008 should be amended.
After deliberating on the report, the standing committee decided that the election methods could be changed, but the changes should be consistent with the principle of gradual and orderly progress, and that the 2007 and 2008 elections should not be by universal suffrage.
In accordance with the standing committee's decision, the constitutional development taskforce of the SAR government published a consultation document (the third report of the taskforce) to collect public views on the methods of the elections in 2007 and 2008.