A Democrat rebel scrapped his controversial petition to conditionally support the government's political reform package yesterday after a Beijing official ruled out any concessions.
But ex-lawmaker Nelson Wong Sing-chi's dramatic U-turn did not save him from punishment - the Democratic Party's central committee voted 21 to 1 to suspend his membership.
The party's disciplinary committee will decide whether to expel him within six months.
"We are sending out a very clear and unambiguous message where the Democratic Party stands in the question of constitutional reform," said chairwoman Emily Lau Wai-hing.
She said the committee decided to give such a strong ruling even though Wong had scrapped his plan because the "damage had already been done" and some people had perceived that the Democrats were wavering over reform because of Wong.
All 27 pan-democratic lawmakers have vowed to vote down the reform proposal next month.