Pro-Beijing figures say 50pc approval threshold for nominating candidates is "reasonable"

A requirement for aspiring chief executive candidates to secure support from half the nominating committee for the 2017 election would be reasonable, two leading Beijing-friendly figures said yesterday.

The remarks by a National People's Congress deputy and a legal scholar came hours after another prominent deputy said he expected Beijing would include such a requirement in its election blueprint this month.

The growing indications of a 50 per cent threshold - rejected by pan-democrats who said it denied voters a real choice - raised the question of how the government would be able to win over democrats to gain the required two-thirds Legislative Council majority for its reform package.

"I have heard that the 50-percent threshold could reflect the requirement for the nominating committee to put forward candidates as an organisation" rather than as individuals, deputy Dr David Wong Yau-kar said, referring to Beijing officials' stance on the nominating method.

"So the [threshold] complies with the Basic Law."

Basic Law Committee member Johnny Mok Shu-luen echoed Wong's view.