My TakeLet's scrap second consultation on Hong Kong political reform

The second public consultation on universal suffrage is about to start. I say scrap it.

The pan-democrats have already vowed to boycott it. Given the restrictive framework set by China's parliament, there is not much wiggle room for the Leung Chun-ying administration to come to terms with them even if it tried.

The upcoming consultation is bound to be a meaningless and wasteful exercise that will only trigger more bitter debate, protest and acrimony. However it turns out, it will not be accorded any legitimacy by the pan-democrats. So why not just skip the charade and start the fight now?

We already know what the proposed 2017 election system for chief executive will look like. There are a few technical details to be worked out, but these can be addressed when Leung presents the final draft reform for voting.

Assuming a united front among the pro-establishment lawmakers holds, the government only needs four pan-democrats to break ranks to secure the two-thirds majority it needs to pass the reform into law. But officials still have to plan for defectors, such as the ever unreliable James Tien Pei-chun. So they may need to convert one or two additional pan-dems.

But how? Two possible compromises: a high number of pre-candidates and a more representative nominating committee. Beijing only allows two or three final chief executive candidates, each of whom must secure over 50 per cent of votes from the committee. But it also insists on following the previous election committee closely. So why not allow any qualified Hong Kong citizens to become pre-candidates if they secure 12.5 per cent - or 150 votes - from committee members, as was the previous rule?