Legislator polls constituents on reforms
The government may consider it has secured 36 votes for the constitutional reform package, but one of these votes is still uncertain and will be decided by doctors and dentists through a survey.
Dr Leung Ka-lau, lawmaker for the medical sector, said he would vote according to the results of a poll of his constituents. The survey, conducted via fax and the internet, will run until just before the Legislative Council votes on the reform resolutions - meaning his voting intention will be unclear until the last minute.
In a letter mailed to all 13,000 doctors and dentists in the city on Friday, the independent asked them to indicate whether they supported the government proposals for how to elect the chief executive and Legco in 2012. Respondents may choose 'support', 'do not support' or 'neutral'.
Leung said that if his poll found a statistically significant majority supported the government's position, he would vote accordingly. Otherwise he would vote against it. But he is not holding out for an absolute majority in favour of or against, because the response rate to his poll is uncertain.
'For example, in the unfortunate case that only 100 people respond, and 51 per cent of them support the proposal while 49 per cent object, then it will not be representative for me to endorse this package.'
The lawmaker said he himself accepted half of the package. He said the expansion of the Election Committee membership from 800 to 1,200 would represent progress, although there would still be a 'small circle' election for the chief executive.
But he does not see how the proposal to expand Legco by 10 seats - half in geographical constituencies and half in the district councils functional constituency - would increase public participation much.
In a meeting with the central committee of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong last Tuesday, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen was quoted as saying that the government lacked four of the 40 votes needed for its proposals to pass. With 23 pan-democrats inclined to veto it and Legco president Tsang Yok-sing having pledged not to vote unless he first resigned, the chief executive's calculation factored in a Yes vote from Leung.
However, doctors and dentists have not shown strong opinions on political reform, as a survey by the Medical Association in February underscored. Only 9.88 per cent responded, of which 46 per cent supported the proposed method for picking the chief executive and 44 per cent supported the proposed method for electing Legco; 15 per cent were undecided.
Labour sector legislator Dr Pan Pey-chyou, who is also vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Public Hospitals, Department of Health and University Doctors' Association - an affiliate of the Beijing-loyal Federation of Trade Unions - said his association was appealing to doctors to join a rally in support of the government's proposals on Saturday.
On the other hand former medical sector lawmaker Dr Lo Wing-lok said he would send out e-mails to urge doctors to reject the proposals.
Pan said he believed there were more politically conservative doctors but that they did not constitute an overwhelming majority. Lo said he saw more doctors who supported an early implementation of universal suffrage, but most were not enthusiastic about electoral reform because of pessimism about the prospects of the political system changing.
