New | Political opponents refuse to compromise as Occupy Central protests rumble on

Hong Kong’s two main political groups are no closer to compromise despite a week of protests that continue to draw hundreds of thousands of demonstrators out onto the streets, paralysing the city’s commercial and retail districts.

If anything, the position of the two rival factions – the pan-Democrats and the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong – is only more entrenched,

“[Chief Executive] Leung [Chun-ying] blames others to create a situation that is uncontrollable but the one who is uncontrollable is he,” said Charles Mok, a Legislative Council member and a moderate member of the pan-democratic movement. Mok said the chief executive must resign.

The controversial democratic reform package is now “dead in the water” as no Democrats will vote for it after seeing tear gas used against demonstrators, Mok said, meaning that the proposed reforms will not get the necessary two-thirds majority in the 70-member legislature that is required for the measure to pass.

Both sides have been at loggerheads over electoral reform measures for many years, though neither camp can now claim to speak for a protest movement that lacks any central leadership and is instead united around revulsion at the use of tear gas against students last Sunday night, and a broad dislike of the current administration.

“No one is able to control the movement. Only the government can calm down the situation,” said Sin Chung-kai, Democratic Party legislative council member.

Leung must resign and a controversial democratic reform package would have to be torn up before peace can be restored, Sin said. Sin was not sure who would replace Leung but he wants the government to file a new report to the National Peoples Congress and renegotiate the terms of the chief executive election procedures.