Lawyer calls for committee to gauge poll views
Senior counsel says former judges would be 'respected' as chair of independent committee
The government should set up an independent committee to gauge public views and advise on the eligibility requirement for future chief executive candidates, according to one of the city's senior lawyers.
Senior counsel Jat Sew-tong, who is chairman of two influential statutory bodies - the Independent Police Complaints Council and the Minimum Wage Commission, said a highly respected figure should chair such a committee.
He believes this is one way to solve the current deadlock over the controversy surrounding universal suffrage arrangements for the 2017 chief executive poll.
"Things can be resolved on the negotiating table as long as both sides [Beijing and the organisers of the Occupy Central movement] have sincerity in hammering out a solution," Jat told the Post.
He said he did not support the Occupy Central movement. "I am not a supporter of civil disobedience," he said.
"Article 45 of the Basic Law has clearly stated the framework and process for the chief executive election… But what does it mean by a 'broadly representative' nominating committee?