Pro-Beijing lawmakers take cautious look at democrats' universal suffrage plan

Key Beijing-loyalist lawmakers are taking a cautious approach to pan-democratic proposals for electing the city’s next leader by universal suffrage in 2017.

The biggest pro-establishment party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, expressed reservations about whether the three proposals might fall foul of the Basic Law but was less critical than some others in the camp.

At the centre of the debate is a suggestion to let 3.2 million ordinary voters citywide nominate, on top of voting for, their leader by 2017, through an exercise to garner signatures from 2 per cent of that population.

Earlier, Beijing-loyalist lawmakers warned that the idea might conflict with the Basic Law or the stance the national legislature took in 2007, dimming its prospects of winning enough backing in the Legislative Council.

In 2007, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee decided that the chief executive may be elected by universal suffrage in 2017, “upon nomination by a broadly representative nominating committee in accordance with democratic procedures” as stipulated in the Basic Law.

The Alliance for True Democracy, comprising 26 of the 27 pan-democratic lawmakers, presented the proposals on Wednesday, saying they were drafted to meet world standards of democracy.