Lawmaker Ronny Tong ends one-man campaign for a moderate reform plan
"I have tried my very best and have suffered the greatest pressure. It's like liberating myself." That's how Ronny Tong Ka-wah describes his decision to end his lone one-year campaign for a moderate political-reform plan.
"I have tried my very best and have suffered the greatest pressure. It's like liberating myself." That's how Ronny Tong Ka-wah describes his decision to end his lone one-year campaign for a moderate political-reform plan.
"I cannot see there is any way out for moderate proposals," the Civic Party lawmaker said yesterday after announcing his decision online.
There’s zero chance for a moderate model to get passed in the legislature
His lament followed Occupy Central's unofficial referendum that saw more than 780,000 people backing public nomination.
Tong said there was now only a glimmer of hope for universal suffrage, with any prospect of consensus having receded so far as to be almost unreachable.
"You cannot ignore the fact that there are some 700,000 people - at least 60 per cent of overall pan-democratic supporters - calling for a proposal which would allow the public to nominate chief executive hopefuls," he said.
"There's zero chance for a moderate model to get passed in the legislature even if Beijing gave it a green light, as no political parties would make a U-turn to support any middle-ground plan [after the referendum]."
He said he was sure most voters understood that public nomination might be turned down, "but [Hongkongers] still adopt this 'all-or-nothing approach'."