Hong Kong could be a beacon of democracy for the mainland
I do not expect the discussion on the green paper on constitutional development to yield meaningful results in achieving the democratic goal as set out in our Basic Law.
Recent comments of our so-called political leaders leave some doubt over the government's will, on behalf of the people, to push for universal suffrage for legislators and the chief executive in 2012. Our chief executive is so close to Beijing that he may be forgiven for not seeing the many cases where the absence of democracy actually decreases rather than increases stability. In the absence of government 'for the people by the people', the disenfranchised often opt for extra-parliamentary means to vent their frustrated aspirations, or their anger over failures of the system.
We don't have to go as far as Myanmar - examples of such action on the mainland are reported regularly in the pages of the South China Morning Post.
As the PRC will remain a one-party state, we must not be deluded that liberal democracy will be handed to us easily or any time soon, despite the pleasant sound-bites from President Hu Jintao . I note Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee's recent 'pragmatic' switch of position to 2012. However, her 2017 fallback option remains a concern to me - Hong Kong already has pragmatism in abundance.
Our political leaders ought to sell the vision of a democratic Hong Kong. We should be trailblazing for the mainland, promoting faster growth, higher efficiency, lower corruption, and better human rights on the mainland.
The rule of law, press freedom, an independent judiciary and free and fair elections of its leaders are the four key pillars of the democratic model of government. Provided these do not get continually eroded, Hong Kong already has three of those; the mainland has precisely none.
Big businesses are guaranteed representation in functional constituencies. The upcoming elections are our proxies, and I hope we will deliver a resounding victory for the candidates who are not afraid to speak up for the ordinary Hong Kong folk and take on vested interests.
Lawrence Cheung, Yau Ma Tei
