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Leading mainland experts on the mini-constitutions of Hong Kong and Macau have warned against any rush to bring universal suffrage to the former Portuguese enclave.
The experts yesterday cited  no mention of universal suffrage in Macau's Basic Law - a major point of difference between the two mini-constitutions - at a Basic Law forum in Macau.
Lu Ping, former director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, said Macau must stick to its Basic Law instead of copying from Hong Kong's universal suffrage timetable. 'Macau has its own Basic Law and its political development differs from that of Hong Kong,' Mr Lu said. 'The Basic Law must be obeyed.'
Parallels are often drawn between the two special administrative regions, which were returned to  Beijing in the late 1990s with promises of high autonomy.
Beijing ended 20 years of contention over democratising Hong Kong last December by giving the green light to universal suffrage for the election of the chief executive in 2017 and of the Legislative Council thereafter.
Guo Dongpo a member of Macau's Basic Law drafting panel, also stressed the importance of  following the mini-constitution to the letter.
Rao Geping, a Basic Law Committee member of the National People's Congress and deputy director of the Institute of Hong Kong and Macau Affairs, said calls for universal suffrage had come from only a minority in Macau and it might be irresponsible to change the electoral system.
'The Basic Law does not clearly oppose or ban universal suffrage,' Mr Rao said. 'If someone used that as an excuse to force a universal suffrage target onto the Basic Law, it would be a wrong understanding' of the mini-constitution.
The leader of Macau's democratic movement, legislator Ng Kuok-cheong, has targeted 2019 for achieving full democracy and has launched campaigns to garner support.



Macau told not to tag along with Hong Kong on universal suffrage