Sector must be guaranteed a quarter of the Legco seats, Wharf chief tells Beijing
Tycoon Peter Woo Kong-ching has called on the central government to protect the 'rights' of Hong Kong's business community by not allowing a dilution of its power in the Legislative Council and the election committee that chooses the chief executive.
He said the public was 'too hopeful' about the prospect of directly electing the chief executive, implying he believed universal suffrage would do more harm than good.
He urged President Hu Jintao and other state leaders to consider how to maintain a 'balanced participation' in politics without introducing universal suffrage.
The business sector should keep at least one-quarter of the seats in the legislature even after the review of the post-2007 constitutional framework, said Mr Woo, chairman of Wharf Holdings and an adviser to the central government.
In a recent speech, Mr Woo said the central government should keep the trade-based functional constituencies in Legco because Hong Kong was a 'business city'.
'The introduction of elections of chief executive and all seats of Legco through universal suffrage amounts to abolition of the business sector's rights to participate in politics,' Mr Woo told the leaders.