Opinion | Focus on nomination rules for 2017 election

There is frankly too much noise in the so-called debate over the methods for electing our next chief executive, so called because what has been said isn't much more than politicking and/or posturing. There's a feeling of déjà vu; again, people from opposing sides are screaming at one another.

So it was refreshing to finally hear one thoughtful proposal. Unfortunately, its author has taken it back, but it still serves as a conversation starter, and I hope it can steer discussions that lead somewhere.

By contrast, the comments by chairman of the National People's Congress Law Committee, Qiao Xiaoyang , seemed completely unnecessary. Is there anyone who doesn't know that Beijing expects the chief executive to be someone who loves the country and Hong Kong and, hence, not be confrontational towards it? To be fair, the very loud calls for protest are equally unnecessary.

These are all red herrings anyway. The nomination committee is what the fuss is really all about. If we don't want to rip up our mini-constitution just yet, article 45 of the Basic Law is what we need to deal with. In accordance with its provisions, we must draw up plans for a nomination committee and specify how it should work, That is the first step towards the goal of electing the city's chief executive by universal suffrage. It isn't rocket science.

Ignore the diatribe that wants us to start from scratch. A nomination body is a screening mechanism, and there is only one way this debate needs to go: how we could hack away at this nomination body to make it as acceptable as possible.

Reaching this "acceptability" is our biggest challenge. If history serves any purpose, then we know that the more irritating we are to Beijing, the less accommodating - and accepting - it will be. It's a political reality, just like the one former chief secretary Anson Chan Fang On-sang unapologetically pointed out earlier - Hong Kong has to abide by the essence of "one country, two systems".