Mainstream opinion key to electoral reform in Hong Kong, CY Leung tells NPC
Chief Executive's report to the NPC suggests that the Hong Kong public generally backs the government line on universal suffrage in 2017
"Mainstream opinion" in Hong Kong holds that only a nominating committee should have the power to put forward chief executive candidates and that such power must not be "undermined or bypassed", the chief executive has told Beijing.
In his report to the National People's Congress Standing Committee - the first step of a long march towards universal suffrage in 2017 - Leung Chun-ying said the public "generally agreed" that the chief executive had to be a person who "loves the country and loves Hong Kong".
Further suggesting that the public backs the government line, he said it would also agree that reform proposals should be drawn up in accordance with the Basic Law and the decisions of the Standing Committee.
Watch: Students respond to Carrie Lam's report on universal suffrage for Hong Kong in 2017
While the report did not specifically rule out allowing voters to nominate candidates, it failed to please lawmakers from either side of the political spectrum, who met at a two-hour special Legislative Council meeting yesterday.