City Beat | An exercise in futility - or is this an opportunity to learn?

Why bother doing something that is doomed to fail?

That was the question many people were asking last week when the government kicked off the second round of public consultation on universal suffrage for 2017.

Beijing won't make any concessions and the pan-democrats have already vowed to boycott it and veto the government's proposal.

It's no wonder there have been calls to do away with the two-month consultation instead of wasting time and resources.

This time, anticipating protests, Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, who is in charge of this task, has decided not to hold town-hall meetings.

And this time, the framework for reform has been clearly set. All suggestions must be in line with the August 31 ruling by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and the Basic Law. That is, the chief executive is to be chosen from just two or three candidates endorsed by most of a 1,200-strong nominating committee.

So what's the point of this consultation? Veteran pan-democrat Cheung Man-kwong said recently that the camp needed to reflect on the recent Occupy protests "to better understand today's China and its leadership" and continue the fight for democracy. Cheung also urged pan-democrats to learn more about Chinese history, saying an understanding of the nation's past and present could help the city make progress on political reform.