Universal suffrage pledge 'shallow and wishy-washy'
The chief executive pledged yesterday to secure the central government's trust and understanding for 'early implementation' of universal suffrage.
Pan-democrats, however, said his policy address gave scant attention to the question of implementing universal suffrage. They claimed the administration remained non-committal on the issue.
Civic Party lawmaker Ronny Tong Ka-wah said: 'The passages on constitutional development were the most empty and shallow of all. It leaves the impression that there is no real progress towards democracy.'
Democratic Party chairman Albert Ho Chun-yan said the policy address showed Mr Tsang lacked responsibility and sincerity in pushing for universal suffrage.
Anson Chan Fang On-sang said Mr Tsang had not fulfilled his election pledge in his address. 'Very few paragraphs are devoted to democratisation and universal suffrage.'
Mr Tsang said the government's 'next step is to collate and summarise the views received' on the green paper on constitutional reform before submitting a report to the central authorities, 'reflecting faithfully the community's views on democratic development'.
Mrs Chan said: 'If this is the case, I take it that the chief executive, before he submits his report to the central government, will make this report available to the public so that the public can see exactly what the content of this report is.'
Civic Party leader Audrey Eu Yuet-mee said: 'At the very least, he should promise to come up with a second round of consultation on specific proposals to make up for denying us this with the green paper. But instead, he remains wishy-washy.'
The deadline for submitting responses to the green paper consultation elapsed at midnight last night, although submissions sent by post on October 10 will still be accepted.
The Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau said more than 17,500 submissions had been received by yesterday afternoon, including 12,000 'standard responses'.
Various pan-democratic groups have handed in their recommended answers, which recreate a model for dual universal suffrage in 2012.
The Civic Party and the Democratic Party claimed they submitted 5,000 and 3,000 answers respectively.
The government had previously noted that other submissions with more than 100,000 signatures were also received, but Ms Eu emphasised the pan-democrats' effort was the only initiative that took to the streets to seek public support.
Unionist lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan said their drive required the record of identification card numbers. 'Ours are not just anonymous signatures, where you cannot verify their true existence.'
