Universal suffrage not same as direct election, Maria Tam tells city

Some Hongkongers may be confused about the meaning of full democracy, a leading Beijing loyalist said yesterday. And a mainland academic said a vote for hand-picked candidates would still deliver universal suffrage.

Peking University law school professor Wang Lei told a forum in Hong Kong that the chief executive could be deemed elected by universal suffrage in 2017 as long as there were no "unreasonable restrictions" on the right to vote.

He ruled out any notion of the public nominating chief executive candidates, as demanded by many pan-democrats.

"The universal suffrage stated in the Basic Law's Article 45 concerns the right to vote … It was made clear that the nominating committee is the only official body [empowered] to put forward candidates," Wang said.

Also speaking at the forum, Basic Law Committee member Maria Tam Wai-chu agreed. She said it was "possible" some Hongkongers were confused about universal suffrage.

"According to international … conventions, universal suffrage means voters' [rights] should not be restricted unreasonably … while a direct election means there shouldn't be any medium [working between voters and candidates] making the election indirect; they are two different ideas," Tam said.