Silent Majority group urges petition, not occupation of Central
Silent Majority calls on Occupy Central to drop its plans to block Central and instead seek 100,000 signatures for universal suffrage
A new group launched on Thursday to counter the Occupy Central protest urged leaders of the civil disobedience movement to collect 100,000 signatures to fight for universal suffrage instead of blocking the streets of Central.
Organisers of Silent Majority for Hong Kong threw down the challenge to the pro-democracy group yesterday in an exchange on a DBC radio programme.
The movement advocates should start up a citizen petition instead of occupying Central. A petition would pressure lawmakers as well
One of the six convenors of Silent Majority, Ho Lok-sang, professor of public policy at Lingnan University, questioned whether the Occupy Central plan had public consent and expressed concern that the movement could encourage people to break the law.
But Occupy Central organisers hit back, saying civil disobedience was a last resort and was different from illegal acts.
Ho said he was in favour of universal suffrage and that people with different party affiliations should have an equal right to contest the chief executive race as long as they do not oppose Beijing.
"The movement advocates should start up a citizen petition instead of occupying Central," Ho said. "A petition would pressure lawmakers as well."