All have to unite to discuss electoral reforms: Legco head Jasper Tsang
Central, local governments and lawmakers should work together towards an electoral reform plan acceptable to all, Jasper Tsang says
Legislative Council president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing has urged the central and local governments and pan-democrats to "sit down and discuss" political reform, saying that they would all share the responsibility if democratisation broke down.
The veteran leftist politician said he hoped that all lawmakers - including democrats now barred from the mainland - would be able to attend the celebrations marking the 65th anniversary of the People's Republic of China next year.
Tsang was speaking yesterday as democracy activists, impatient at the lack of consultation on the issue by the local government, planned an "Occupy Central" movement in protest.
"[Beijing and local politicians] should all see the political reality, and [realise] that it is necessary for all parties concerned to sit down and come up with an [electoral reform] proposal which is acceptable to all," he said.
"If there is no progress [on democratisation] … the responsibility will not be only on the pan-democrats," he said. But the pan-democrats "would not win public support either" if they advocated a proposal unacceptable to Beijing and against the Basic Law.
While no consultation paper had yet been issued, Tsang believed that the local government had already started its preparation work behind closed doors.
"It takes time for the government to do things," he said.