Put political reform debate aside if Legco rejects proposal, CY Leung urges Hong Kong
Chief executive says if his blueprint is blocked the city cannot go on with 'endless arguments'
The debate on political reform should be set aside for a few years if the government's blueprint for electing the chief executive in 2017 is voted down as Hong Kong can no longer afford to waste time on endless wrangling, Leung Chun-ying said yesterday.
The controversial remark by the chief executive was blasted by pan-democrats, who feared it was a hint the next administration would not reinitiate work on electoral reform and that Leung was not interested in implementing "genuine universal suffrage".
Leung said the issue of electoral reform had cost Beijing, the Hong Kong government and political parties an enormous amount of time.
"Should the proposal be blocked, I hope Hong Kong will put aside the reform debate as the city cannot afford endless arguments on it," Leung said at a question-and-answer session in the Legislative Council, adding it was time for Hong Kong to "chase back the time" for developing the economy and livelihoods.
Some 20 pan-democrat lawmakers, who have pledged to vote down the government's proposal for political reform, placed paper cut-outs of deer at the front of the chamber as they protested ahead of the meeting, saying Leung should stop "calling a deer a horse" by insisting on introducing "sham universal suffrage".