Finance chief fears row may hurt budget talks
Pan-democrats might try to link the controversy over constitutional reform with the government budget in February, which would make the annual negotiation process 'much more complicated', the financial secretary warned yesterday.
In a speech delivered at Chinese University, John Tsang Chun-wah questioned whether the pan-democrats would take advantage of the row over universal suffrage and use it as leverage during the negotiation process before and after the budget's formulation.
'The controversy surrounding constitutional reform in Hong Kong may also change the local political landscape,' he said. 'Will political parties become more radical in Legco over livelihood and economic policies?'
Saying the process 'will never be easy', Tsang asked: 'Will Legco members link up constitutional reform with the budget, and make the political process more complicated? I do not have a crystal ball.'
He said as the global economic outlook remained volatile despite improvements in the local economy, the government would be prudent and would not offer one-off relief measures as it had last year.
'We don't see the so-called handing-out-sweets measures as a solution,' Tsang said.
An official familiar with the situation said the plan by lawmakers from the Civic Party and the League of Social Democrats to resign and trigger a de facto referendum - which may coincide with the timing of the budget vote in April - might radicalise the Democratic Party.
The government was concerned that the party, which joined other pan-democrats to vote against the budget this year, may try to pressure the government over livelihood issues to show it had not gone soft on the administration despite refusing to participate in the resignation plan, the official said.
But Democratic Party legislator Lee Wing-tat said his party had no plans to link the final constitutional reform proposal, expected to be tabled in the Legislative Council for approval next year, to the budget.
'We will not inflate our budget demands just because the people are angry with the government over the issue of universal suffrage,' Lee said. 'But I am sure some pan-democrats who have not thought about it before will thank John Tsang for the tip.'
He said his party had already vetoed radical demands by members in relation to the budget.
Tsang is expected to consult political parties soon on the budget.
