Pan-democrats should vote, not risk jail with Occupy Central, ex-politician says
Veteran politician Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee has urged fellow pan-democrats to stay away from Occupy Central, saying they risked losing the chance to cast crucial votes against the government's "unconscionable" reform package if they got locked up.
Veteran politician Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee has urged fellow pan-democrats to stay away from Occupy Central, saying they risked losing the chance to cast crucial votes against the government's "unconscionable" reform package if they got locked up.
Most pan-democrat lawmakers have vowed to vote against the planned reforms, and to take part in the civil disobedience movement.
But Ng, in an interview with the , urged them not to "seek the limelight" of Occupy Central. Instead, she said, they should concentrate on casting votes. "It is not your popularity but your duty which matters," the barrister and former Civic Party lawmaker said. "The utmost duty of pan-democratic legislators is to veto the unconscionable package. Leave Occupy Central to civil society."
Ng disagreed with Occupy co-founder Benny Tai Yiu-ting's view that the legal consequences for participants would be minor.
"Arrests are getting more political," Ng said. "They can charge you with crimes which can put you away for years."
The vote of pan-democrats, who account for 27 of the 70 Legco members, is critical because the electoral reforms require a two-thirds majority to pass.
Ng also said it was "despicable" for the British government to take a weak stance now in defending the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which promised the city a high degree of autonomy.
"Hong Kong has to remain internationally visible if it [is] to survive," she said, calling on residents to respond to a British Parliament probe on the declaration. Beyond the vote, pan-democratic parties should consider reforming themselves, and veterans should pass the baton to younger members, Ng said.
The parties should also think of ways to tap the 790,000 people who voted in Occupy's June referendum in June, to try to turn some of them into donors or members.
Civic Party leader Alan Leong Kah-kit said Ng's concerns were legitimate but he would still join the protest. "If they really turn so nasty and arrest us a day before the vote … I can only hope for the best for Hong Kong," Leong said.
Democrat Albert Ho Chun-yan and Labour Party chairman Lee Cheuk-yan said they would join the sit-in.
