After a marathon debate straddling two days, the government yesterday claimed the first victory in reforming electoral methods for 2012 when the legislature passed a resolution by a wide margin to change the method for choosing the next chief executive.
Speaking after the passage of the resolution, Chief Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen said: 'You [lawmakers] have made history.'
But 'Long Hair' Leung Kwok-hung, a legislator from the League of Social Democrats, shouted 'shameless' when Legco president Tsang Yok-sing announced the voting results.
The league declared that passage of the package marked the moment it parted company with the Democratic Party, which supported the government proposal.
In another sign indicating how the community is polarised by the lingering debate on political reform, the news drew jeers from protesters in Statue Square, near the Legislative Council building, while jubilant supporters of the reform package in Chater Garden chanted 'Act Now' - the government's slogan selling the proposal.
One protester, Chan King-fai, 28, who interrupted the Legco meeting from the public gallery, was taken away by security guards and later arrested by police for contempt of Legco. Chan was active in campaigns against the high-speed rail link to Guangzhou and demolition of Queen's and Star Ferry piers.