CY Leung 'will leave the slaughter of public nomination to Beijing'
Government attempts to soothe divisions over plans for the chief executive election, but says nominating committee 'cannot be undermined'
The government's implied rather than explicit rejection of public nomination in reports on political reform released yesterday was described as a delaying tactic to prevent an immediate breakdown of ties with pan- democrats.
One political commentator described it as a means of leaving it to Beijing to be the "slaughterer" of the idea that all voters should be able to nominate chief executive candidates, a proposal put forward by several pro-democracy groups and backed by hundreds of thousands of voters in an unofficial referendum.
Constitutional affairs minister Raymond Tam Chi-yuen meanwhile suggested "public recommendation" under which the public could put forward non-binding recommendations to the nominating committee.
"Our principle is that any proposals that do not undermine the power of the nominating committee are welcome. Any scholars who want to discuss this further will be welcomed," Tam said.
Such a compromise proposal is unlikely to appease pan-democrats however.
The two reports on reform, delivered by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, said "mainstream views" were against public nomination, but they did not provide any data to support the claim.