My Take | Time for Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying to hold a political reform summit

Both sides are now blaming each other for the chaos and mayhem over the weekend. Given the extraordinary and persistently large crowds and the heavy-handed police response, they are both right about each other. All sides share responsibility for what happened.

However, our immediate concern, especially when tomorrow is National Day - a traditional day of rallying - is to restore Hong Kong's proud tradition of peaceful protests and respectful policing.

The confrontation and chaotic scenes over the weekend have been unnerving for most Hong Kong people. The images on TV, broadcast around the world, are not what we have come to associate with our peaceful and prosperous city.

The pan-democrat lawmakers who called a press conference yesterday to demand the resignation of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and the reversal of Beijing's reform package are typical in their counterproductive grandstanding. Occupy Central organisers, among them Chan Kin-man, cannot evade responsibility for pushing forward the movement's commencement and messing up the orderly peaceful protests run mainly by students from last week. But above all, Leung has failed to take ownership of the constitutional crisis by hiding in his office, and absurdly called a press conference on Sunday to meet reporters when he should have been meeting student protesters to show good faith.

Is the situation still salvageable? Yes, but only if all sides take responsibility and stop the blame game. First, the government should open Civic Square and Tamar Park to let protesters come and go freely and stay for the long haul. Police must withdraw all anti-riot officers. Pan-democrat organisers should call on people to gather only at government sites to stop disturbing the rest of the public in other districts.

Then Leung must announce he will chair a grand reform summit along with the second public consultation. In full public view, representatives of all political parties and groups will be invited to work towards a realistic reform plan - in light of Beijing's restrictions - to be tabled in the Legislative Council for final voting.