Legco storming may be forerunner to Occupy Central, government source says
Government fears Friday's protest was forerunner of Occupy Central blockade
The government fears the attempt to storm the Legislative Council building on Friday night was a trial run by activists for the Occupy Central campaign of civil disobedience, a source close to the administration revealed.
Protesters used bamboo poles to try to force open doors to the Legco building when a crowd that had gathered to oppose government plans to build two new towns grew angry.
Inside, Legco's Finance Committee had been due to vote on a HK$340 million funding request for engineering works linked to the development plan in the northeastern New Territories, which will cost many villagers their homes.
The source said the mayhem offered an insight into the looming Occupy Central movement, which threatens to blockade the city's business district if the government does not come up with a satisfactory plan for electing the chief executive in 2017. That is the year when, under the Basic Law, the city may vote in a chief executive by universal suffrage for the first time.
"It is expected that Occupy Central … will be hijacked by the same group of people who will push the movement away from its original goal. These people will take even bigger steps to storm Legco when it scrutinises the reforms for 2017," the source said.
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying accused the protesters of "further aggravation in the wake of a spate of illegal events".
