Minister confirms June 17 vote on electoral reform but is resigned to defeat
Raymond Tam confirms poll reform proposal will go before Legco on June 17, but pan-dem opposition is solid in absence of amendments
The long-debated reform proposal for electing the chief executive in 2017 will be tabled to the Legislative Council on June 17 with no modifications, the constitutional affairs minister said while admitting he had no confidence it would be approved.
The remarks by Raymond Tam Chi-yuen came after Beijing officials and pan-democratic lawmakers failed to reach a breakthrough during last-ditch talks in Shenzhen on Sunday.
Both Tam and Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying joined a chorus of Beijing officials yesterday ruling out any possible concessions on the reform package, which stipulates only two or three hopefuls who win majority support of the nominating committee can run for the top job.
"We believe the chances of the [reform proposal] being passed by Legco are not high," Tam said after stating that no amendments would be made. He said officials hoped to lobby lawmakers privately in the coming week.
Pan-democrat lawmaker Charles Mok said he had no idea why the government would not approach them until now. He cast doubt on the effectiveness of such meetings as both Beijing and the local government had repeatedly said there was no room for improvement.
On Sunday, Basic Law Committee chairman Li Fei said Beijing's August decision - the basis of the government's reform plan, which pan-democrats argue effectively rules out candidates of different political backgrounds - would be permanent even if the proposal was blocked this time.