Chief Secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen has announced that the constitutional development taskforce is only prepared to extend the consultation period for its third report by two weeks, to October 15.
This is most disappointing.
The third report on constitutional development is to deal with the method for selecting the chief executive and for forming the Legislative Council, including questions such as the number of seats in Legco, how many seats should be returned by functional constituencies and how many should be returned by geographical constituencies through direct election.
These are exactly the issues which the September 12 election can cast light upon. Sufficient time should be given to the community to reflect upon our experience and to formulate well- thought-out proposals.
The Post reported on September 30 that Beijing is calling for new approaches under 'one country, two systems'. The third report is a golden opportunity to let Beijing hear the aspirations of the Hong Kong public for constitutional improvements. As such, a two-week extension seems to be disappointingly insufficient. The constitutional future of Hong Kong is at stake. It is far more important that we should get our answers right, instead of getting them efficiently.
Please reconsider the extension.
STEPHANIE CHEUNG, Central