Chinese Vice-Premier Qian Qichen declared last Saturday that there has been no secret deal on the selection of the first chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), but how credible does this statement sound to Hong Kong people? At the weekend, the Preparatory Committee plenum made two key decisions on the race, which are in sharp contrast to what committee members and the public understood to be the rules of the game.
The first decision says that all those interested in standing should make clear their intention before the formation of the 400-strong selection committee, scheduled for November 1. And the second decision states the candidates for the top job will be nominated in secret.
Those who have followed the development of the chief executive election closely are puzzled by the requirement for candidates to announce their intention to stand before the selection committee is formed.
The official position has always been that nominations would start after the selection committee was formed. This is a well-understood principle and no one has heard of any discussion to advance the timetable.
More disturbing is the second decision which is clearly out of step with the chief executive sub-group's proposals.
Its original recommendation, drafted after heated debate, was for the candidates to secure nominations from at least 50 selection committee members whose names would be made public to bolster the transparency of the process.
