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Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Raymond Tam says a meeting between lawmakers and Beijing will not be a negotiation or for testing each other's bottom line. Photo: Dickson Lee

Pan-democrats would not seek compromises in Beijing reform talks, says minister

Pan-democrats just want to state 2017 position to officials, Tam says

Peter So

A potential meeting between pan-democrats and central government officials would not be an occasion for negotiations on political reform, a top government official said.

But constitutional and mainland affairs chief Raymond Tam Chi-yuen said the government's draft proposal on the 2017 chief executive poll could make it a little easier for would-be candidates to enter a preliminary vote that will decide which two or three runners enter the election.

The proposal will be published on Wednesday, but the government faces a battle to get it through the Legislative Council.

Tam confirmed the plan would stick to a strict framework set by Beijing in August, under which aspirants need majority support from a 1,200-strong committee to become candidates when Hongkongers choose their leader for the first time.

Pan-democrats say such a model would deny voters real choice. Tam and Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor have met pan-democrats over the past week in an attempt to win over at least four of the camp's 27 lawmakers, whose votes are needed to achieve the required two-thirds majority.

Some lawmakers expressed an interest in having dialogue with Beijing officials, and Tam said he had conveyed their wishes to the central government.

But if such a meeting was arranged "the occasion will not be a negotiation or for testing each other's bottom line", Tam said. "I believe they [pan-democrats] are not really trying to explore the room for compromise, but to state their stance, or the opinions of people they represent, to the central government directly."

In the last political reform debate in 2010, Democratic Party lawmakers made a dramatic U-turn to support reform plans for the 2012 Legco election after last-ditch talks with officials from Beijing's liaison office.

But the party's founding chairman, Martin Lee Chu-ming, yesterday said he saw little prospect of a similar twist this time.

Tam's remarks came as lawyer and Civic Party lawmaker Dennis Kwok said he would join a Bar Association trip to meet Beijing officials later this month.

Meanwhile, Tam said candidates in 2017 might need fewer supporters to enter the nominating committee vote than they did to run for chief executive in 2012, when a similar body decided the election. The three candidates in 2012 each needed 150 supporters, one-eighth of the committee.

"During the consultation, some opinions suggested the threshold be set between 100 and 150," Tam said. "We would find a place in between."

But Tam said the government would not seek to drastically reform the methods of electing committee members as it would take time for society to reach agreement on the matter.

Many members of the 2012 committee were elected by a handful of voters or by corporate voters, sparking criticism it was little more than a rubber stamp.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: 'No negotiating at talks in Beijing'
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