Focus on the 2017 nomination committee, academic Benny Tai says
Benny Tai says it is more important to discuss nominating committee's formation than how candidates for chief executive will be picked
The academic behind a plan to block traffic in Central in the fight for democracy is seeking to move the debate on universal suffrage beyond the issue of screening candidates.
The city should focus on discussing how to form the nominating committee in the 2017 popular vote for chief executive, instead of speculating on whether pro-democracy candidates would be screened out, Dr Benny Tai Yiu-ting said.
"Very often, the [debate] on screening has focused on democratic procedures rather than the nomination committee," the University of Hong Kong associate law professor said on Commercial Radio yesterday.
"But if the formation of the committee meets [international] standards of being universal and equal, the nomination process [and democratic procedures] will be comparatively much less contentious. So I believe our focus should be on the nomination committee."
The city has yet to have such a committee. In last year's race won by Leung Chun-ying, 1,193 members of the Election Committee nominated and elected their pick for chief executive.
Tai suggested the nominating panel be returned by a popular vote, instead of being formed in the same way as the Election Committee, which is made up mainly of Beijing loyalists with a mandate of 249,499 voters.