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Exco convenor Lam Woon-kwong sounds a warning to pan-democrats about their future role. Photo: Edmond So

Hong Kong pan-democrats will be marginalised if they reject 2017 poll plan, warns Exco convenor

Peter So

Pan-democrats would be marginalised if they vetoed the 2017 chief executive electoral reform package, warned Executive Council convenor Lam Woon-kwong.

Speaking on an RTHK programme on Friday, Lam said pan-democrats logically should not take part in the “small-circle” election in 2017 if they rejected the government’s package.

However, pan-democratic lawmakers appearing on the same programme reiterated that they would veto the reform because otherwise they would be marginalised by their own supporters.

“Let’s assume all 27 pan-democrats stick to their ground to veto the reform, then the same election like 2012 will be held. Will the pan-democrats then, like before, support another candidate to fight in this small-circle election?” Lam asked.

“By an extension of logic, you won’t. Because you can’t even support this current proposal, so you can’t really join the game again in 2017.”

Last month, the government unveiled a reform package that followed a stringent framework laid down by Beijing in August last year which will allow only two or three candidates to be put forward for a city-wide poll after they obtain majority support from a 1,200-strong nominating committee.

Pan-democratic lawmakers have repeatedly vowed to veto the package when it is put to a vote in late June.

The vice-chairwoman of the national legislature’s Basic Law Committee, Elsie Leung Oi-sie, said it would be “a very difficult job” for the government to lure at least four pan-democrats to secure a two-thirds Legislative Council majority for the reform package.

I would say all the pan-democratic parties' influence in 2017 would be further marginalised
Lam Woon-kwong

Lam also asked how pan-democrats could strive for a better deal for Hongkongers in future if they rejected the current proposal.

“Will you be fielding candidates to get elected in the 1,200-strong Election Committee? By extension of the same logic, you should not be fielding any candidates.”

“By then, I would say all the pan-democratic parties’ influence in 2017 would be further marginalised as they cannot influence the election or the [chief executive] candidates … Is that going to be better or worse for Hong Kong?”

However, Democratic Party chairwoman Emily Lau Wai-hing said the pan-democrats would “not want to exert influence” in an election that failed to give Hongkongers a genuine choice for chief executive.

She said recent opinion polls showed that young people and the more educated had stronger views against the package.

“You [Lam] say if we do not support the package, we would be marginalised by Beijing. Let me tell you, if we support the package, we would be marginalised by our own supporters,” said Lau.

Another participant in the programme, People Power lawmaker Albert Chan Wai-yip, warned that the civil disobedience movement would intensify if the central government denied Hongkongers’ desire to have genuine democracy.

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