A report being compiled by the Hong Kong government to reflect recent public opinion about the city’s democratic development will form no part of the official reform process, one of the officials drafting the document said today. The report will include the results of opinion polls and “signature collection campaigns”, likely referring to the controversial signature campaign run by a group opposed to the seven-week-long blockade of main roads by pro-democracy protesters. It will “objectively and truthfully” reflect public opinion since August 31, when Beijing ruled out an open election of the next chief executive, said Acting Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Lau Kong-wah. The report will be filed to the central government’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office. But Lau refused to explain how the government was collecting views from pro-democracy protesters, and said the report will not form part of the official reform process. The official process will continue with the public being invited to weigh in on a draft reform package that complies with the tight restrictions that Beijing set out on August 31. A report based on a first round of public consultation earlier this year was heavily criticised for ignoring or downplaying non-establishment views. Asked by a lawmaker what the point of the new report would be, Lau could not explain, and offered no thoughts on whether it would help to solve the current deadlock between the government and pro-democracy protesters. Lau was also unable to provide even a rough date for when the report would be finished. “We will endeavour to include the different aspirations and opinions from different sectors of the community that have been publicly expressed through various channels, including relevant opinion polls and signature campaigns conducted by different organisations,” Lau told lawmakers today. “Our consulting objects are not only the mass of students [referring to the street protests] but other people as well,” said Lau Lau did not specify what the point of the report would be, or whether he thought it would help to solve the current deadlock between the government and pro-democracy protesters. Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor first offered to send the report during televised talks with student leaders last month. The students plan to visit Beijing in a bid to discuss Hong Kong’s democratic development with central government officials. A campaign run by an anti-Occupy Central group, the Alliance for Peace and Democracy, claimed to have amassed 1.8 million signatures in support of police and against the street blockades. The credibility of the campaign was questioned after organisers admitted they had no system to prevent false or multiple signatures.
