Martin Lee pulls controversial plan for Hong Kong chief executive poll reform
Democrat apologises to his supporters as he withdraws controversial proposal to allow five candidates to run for chief executive in 2017
Martin Lee Chu-ming yesterday retracted a proposal for electoral change he put forward a day earlier and apologised to his critics in the pan-democratic camp, saying he had "let them down".
The dramatic U-turn by the founding chairman of the Democratic Party underlined the gap between Beijing and the pan-democrats on political reform.
It was also an indication of the dilemma facing pan-democrats - whether to open talks on practical issues, such as the rules for nominating chief executive candidates within the parameters set by Beijing; or stick to its call for "genuine universal suffrage".
Lee had proposed that candidates for the 2017 chief executive election could be nominated via a screening process.
But he conceded it was "a rash decision" to put forward the controversial plan for universal suffrage before seeking advice from fellow pan-democrats.
"I believe this is the wrong time to post my opinion, particularly for what I said would be acceptable to me as the bottom line," Lee said. "After reflection, I have no hesitation that I should retract that proposal."
I believe this is the wrong time to post my opinion, particularly for what I said would be acceptable to me as the bottom line. After reflection, I have no hesitation that I should retract that proposal