Camps split on candidate limits for chief executive election
Beijing loyalists and business groups want cap on number of chief executive nominees, but pan-dems say it will screen out popular choices
The pro-Beijing and pan-democratic camps are divided - not only over how to nominate candidates for the 2017 chief executive election, but also on the number of candidates allowed to run for office, the second part of a South China Morning Post debate shows.
Party leaders, business figures and an academic taking part in the debate on electoral reform are split over whether to impose a cap on the number of chief executive candidates.
The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong and the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong (BPA) - the two biggest pro-Beijing groups in the legislature - and the Chinese Manufacturers' Association (CMA) all called for a limit of two to four candidates.
"This would allow the nominating committee to exercise its substantive powers while offering voters reasonable choices, making the election a truly contested one," said Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen, BPA's chairman.
Adeline Wong Ching-man, chief executive of the CMA and the former undersecretary for constitutional and mainland affairs, said fixing the number at two to three was "acceptable" to the chamber of commerce.
Such a cap was needed owing to the social and economic costs of the election, Wong said.