Government's electoral reform report leaves hopes for democracy in tatters
Joseph Wong says Leung's report to Beijing is so out of touch with the political realities in Hong Kong that it offers people little comfort in their long struggle to achieve universal suffrage
To those unaware of recent events in the Legislative Council or the increased political tension in society, the two recently released government reports on political reform convey the following impression: that Hong Kong people are satisfied with the present composition and performance of Legco, hence no reform is needed; and that most of them agree to the general principles laid down by Beijing for electing Hong Kong's chief executive by universal suffrage in 2017.
Such an impression bears little relation to the political reality Hong Kong faces today. And it offers little comfort to the democratic aspirations of the Hong Kong people, particularly the young and politically active.
It is true that during the consultation period, the public focused on the method for electing the chief executive and did not have much to say regarding the 2016 Legco election. But it is far-fetched, bordering on being dishonest, for the government to deduce a "no need to amend" consensus from the lack of public response.
In fact, the pan-democratic parties, which received more than half of the votes cast in the 2012 election, proposed substantial changes to the method for forming the legislature in 2016, such as by increasing the proportion of directly elected seats (presently fixed at 1:1 with functional constituency seats). Although these views are mentioned in the report, they do not seem to carry any weight when the government makes its own conclusion.
This conclusion of public opinion is conveniently used by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying in his report to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. On that basis, he recommends that the Standing Committee take no decision to amend the existing composition of Legco. This recommendation is flawed in two respects.
First, one principle laid down by Beijing is that the ultimate aim of electing all lawmakers by universal suffrage must be achieved through "gradual and orderly progress". The 2007 Standing Committee decision says this can only happen after the implementation of universal suffrage for the chief executive election in 2017.