CY warns pan-dems will 'have a case to answer' if they block universal suffrage plan

The city's pan-democrats will have a case to answer if the government's plan to let Hongkongers pick their next leader through "one man, one vote" in 2017 is voted down in the legislature, the chief executive has warned.

Leung Chun-ying's remarks yesterday came after all 27 pan-democratic lawmakers vowed to veto the electoral reform package if it was based on Beijing's restrictive framework. Critics say the framework - which allows for only two or three candidates with majority backing from a nominating committee - will effectively screen out those candidates Beijing does not want.

The reform package needs two-thirds majority support to be passed in the Legislative Council. This means the government has to secure at least four votes from the pan-democratic camp.

If the package is voted down by the pan-democrats, who control just over one-third of the votes in Legco, "they will have a case to answer", Leung said on RTHK's Letter to Hong Kong.

"Why do they think the present chief executive election by the election committee, with its 1,200 members, is more democratic than the universal suffrage election that is on offer?" asked Leung, who was chosen for the top job in 2012 with 689 votes. "More importantly, why do they think rejecting the present offer will get Hong Kong a better one?"

Leung said Beijing enjoys substantial power over the chief executive's appointment.