Beijing loyalists yesterday played down the prospect of universal suffrage for both the chief executive and Legislative Council polls by 2012, despite state leaders' recognition of the importance of democracy.
On Monday, President Hu Jintao told Donald Tsang Yam-kuen that gradually developing democracy was one of the fundamental interests of the people of Hong Kong. Separately, Premier Wen Jiabao also praised the three objectives in Mr Tsang's platform, which included promoting democracy.
Commenting on these remarks, Liberal Party chairman James Tien Pei-chun said: 'State leaders were reassured that people in Hong Kong actually have the wisdom of not choosing troublemakers, as Donald Tsang's popularity remained very high during the chief executive election.
'That is why they seem open to introducing universal suffrage to return the chief executive by 2012, as long as candidates need to get high numbers of nominations. But universal suffrage for Legco should wait since there is no consensus,' he said.
Ma Lik, chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, warned that people should not have any false hope that a 'green light' was given for dual-direct elections by 2012.
'State leaders clearly mentioned democratisation should be gradual. That means there won't be universal suffrage in 2012.'
