Update | Hong Kong begins second consultation on electoral reform
Compromise that lets voters reject candidates who in all probability will be pro-Beijing draws positive response from an ex-mainland official
A former senior mainland official in charge of Hong Kong affairs says he is open to discussion on the idea of allowing residents to veto all candidates in the 2017 chief executive poll, amid concerns that the field would be favourable to Beijing.
The veto option, suggested by a Basic Law expert, could be a topic for debate in the city's second consultation on electoral reform, Chen Zuoer, former deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office under the State Council, said.
It is hoped the compromise proposal will break a political impasse over Beijing's restriction of the ballot field to two or three nominees, as it gives voters a chance to express dissatisfaction with those candidates - to be chosen by a panel likely to be dominated by Beijing loyalists.
The stringent framework has led pan-democrats to threaten a boycott of the two-month consultation, and Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor urged them yesterday against opting out of the debate.
"Any person refusing to take part in the consultation, or even vowing to veto any constitutional development proposal … is tantamount to depriving five million eligible voters of their opportunity to elect the chief executive by universal suffrage," Lam said as she launched the exercise.
READ MORE: Occupy leaders predict fresh protests over new governement political reform consultation
In the consultation, Hongkongers are asked if a hopeful for the city's top job must secure 100 or 150 recommendations from a 1,200-strong nominating committee before moving on to the panel's internal vote that decides the final slate for the public "one man, one vote" election.