Civic Party backs Legco quit plan
Members of the Civic Party voted yesterday to back a resignation plan as part of its push for universal suffrage. But party leader Audrey Eu Yuet-mee did not say if the party would stick to the plan if the Democratic Party decided next week it would have no part in it.
The proposal - which calls for one lawmaker in each of the five geographical constituencies to resign, thereby triggering a by-election that would be presented to the public as a referendum on universal suffrage - has split the pan-democratic camp.
Democrat leaders have criticised the plan, championed by the Civic Party and League of Social Democrats.
At the Civic Party's annual general meeting yesterday, 76 members backed the resignation plan, while 17 disapproved of it. Two members abstained. About 120 of the party's 360 members attended the meeting.
Some members had expressed reservations over the plan, Eu said. 'Some said it was not an appropriate time [for the plan because] democrats might lose in the by-elections and some parties in the camp have refused to support the plan,' she said.
Deputy chairman Alan Leong Kah-kit said the party would continue talks with other pan-democrats to decide when lawmakers should resign.
The Democratic Party will hold a vote on the plan next Sunday.
The Civic Party also voted on the government's proposal for constitutional reform, with 95 saying it should be vetoed if it does not lead to universal suffrage. No one voted against it, while one abstained.
