THE Legislative Council motion may have been defeated on Wednesday night, but the issue will not go away. In calling for the chief executive to be directly elected, and only being beaten by a casting vote, independent legislator Emily Lau Wai-hing was doing little more than echoing the Basic Law.
Under Article 45, this promises that the 'ultimate aim' is a chief executive chosen by universal suffrage. It will be a long time, if ever, before this goal is fulfilled, for the Basic Law also bars changes to the selection process before 2007. Even then, there are rigorous requirements for an amendment to succeed.
Until then, no amount of Legco motions can change the reality that Hong Kong has to follow procedures in the Basic Law. These include a 400-member Selection Committee, to be formed this spring, which is 'broadly representative' of community opinion.
Events so far have raised questions about how far this body will be left to perform its proper role. At times it seems that a handshake with President Jiang Zemin, or the endorsement of a friendly tycoon, counts for more than the views of the yet-to-be-formed selection body.
Ms Lau's motion served a useful purpose in focusing attention on the need to do more to ensure that the choice of the chief executive is conducted in a fair and open manner, taking account of all shades of public opinion.
It is too much to expect universal suffrage at this stage, but it is not unreasonable to expect members of the Selection Committee to be chosen by the community, in accordance with the concept of Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong.
