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Ministers promote the reform package, which some civil servants have said offers "fake universal suffrage". Photo: Sam Tsang

Civil servants write open letter urging Hong Kong lawmakers to reject political reform

Action heats up before reform vote, with letter writers decrying 'fake democracy' and editorial accusing pan-democrats of 'sabotaging stage'

An anonymous group of civil servants yesterday joined the debate on electoral reform, urging lawmakers to vote down the government's blueprint for the 2017 chief executive election.

And at the High Court, a judge ruled the government could continue to air its "2017: Make it happen" advertisements on the blueprint on television and radio although whether the ads constituted "announcements of public interest" was an arguable point.

The latest developments over electoral reform come ahead of a Legislative Council vote, expected late next week, on the government's package - with all 27 pan-democrats still standing firm on their vows to reject it.

In the open letter, advertisers who identify themselves as civil servants write that accepting the plan will allow "rulers who show their true colours to use fake universal suffrage to extract a fake public mandate". It will "mean an end to the glory of this bright and shining city", they declare.

A spokesman for the group said they decided to voice their opposition despite possible "consequences", because the issue "will have a great impact on the next 20 and 30 years".

The Civil Service Bureau said: "In expressing their own views, civil servants should ensure such views will not compromise their capacity to fulfil their official duties professionally, effectively and impartially."

Meanwhile, the Chinese-language , an official Beijing mouthpiece, hit out at pan-democrats in an editorial titled "Hong Kong democracy sets a bad example for mainland".

"They overturn the table and sabotage the stage when their highest demand is not met … making Hong Kong increasingly like a 'third-world country'," it says. "The mainland has no intention to marginalise Hong Kong in the Greater-China prosperity sphere. If the opposition in Hong Kong is still capable of a little reasoning, they should handle the political struggle skilfully and leave a little room without taking it to the extremes."

At the court, retired photojournalist Cheung Tak-wing won permission to pursue his judicial review of the government's ads.

But Mr Justice Thomas Au Hing-cheung decided against granting an interim injunction to stop those ads from playing.

"There is now only very little time left … as the motion is to be tabled at the Legco for debate and vote on June 17," the judge wrote.

"The materials have been broadcast for more than a month … Any additional adverse effect it would have by reason of the refusal to grant an injunction at this stage is likely to be insignificant."

In a nine-day poll of artists this month, an overwhelming 93 per cent, or 586 out of the 630 members of the Academy for Performing Arts' alumni association, opposed the package.

"We are artists by training and know fairly little about politics," association chairwoman Joyce Cheung said. The strong opposition was not surprising, because of the "humanistic theme in drama and musical classics, for example, that we were inspired in at our alma mater".

 

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Civil servants join the fray - anonymously
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