Government can resolve the protest stand-off - by conducting an honest public consultation
Stephanie Cheung says the government must come clean about the real obstacles impeding democratic progress, and start by submitting a supplemental consultation report to Beijing
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has finally come out with the truth. His real reason for denying open nomination for chief executive candidates is because, he claims, more than half the Hong Kong electorate earns less than HK$14,000 a month, so voting would favour this sector.
If we look beyond the initial offensiveness of his statement, its honesty actually clears away all side issues, and helps Hong Kong to refocus on the real issues about implementing democracy in this city.
Leung needs to explain clearly the underlying causes for his objection. Only then, can we as a community, objectively and rationally explore how each cause may be addressed. For example, is his objection that the poor are not well educated, and lack independent thought? Or, that they are likely to be new immigrants unversed in the sophistications of Hong Kong democracy? Does he fear selfish human nature that will drive them to support politicians promising social handouts? Or does he think that, because they are of relatively low income, their votes can be easily bought? Maybe Leung is simply saying, "They are different from us. We don't understand them. We don't trust them".
Some of these concerns may be addressed through better education, communication, and even setting residency thresholds. For others, we may need to work out possible options to minimise such feared ills.
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Each of these, plus any other causes, is an important factor for Hong Kong to consider in its quest for democracy, and determining its pace of reform. They should not be concerns of the chief executive alone, but concerns of our society.