Hong Kong’s leader was yesterday challenged to step down as he clashed with angry pro-democracy lawmakers over the government’s controversial electoral reform package, which goes to a vote next month.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying (梁振英) dodged the resignation question and told legislators the territory was at a “critical juncture”, urging them to support the roadmap for leadership elections in 2017 — the first ever public vote for the chief executive.
Pro-democracy lawmakers have vowed to block the package when it goes to the vote next month, calling it “fake democracy” as candidates for leader are to be vetted by a loyalist committee, a stipulation laid down by Beijing.
Beijing’s decision sparked more than two months of street rallies late last year that brought parts of the territory to a standstill.
Hong Kong Legislator James To (涂謹申) of the Democratic Party asked Leung whether he would step down “to take responsibility” if the package were rejected, a question Leung did not answer directly.
“If Legco [Legislative Council] members do not endorse the proposal, will people ask them to step down?” a riled Leung asked.
Two lawmakers were removed from the heated question-and-answer session for heckling, one holding a yellow umbrella, a symbol of the democracy movement, and another shouting “Liar.”
Pro-democracy legislators also brought cardboard cut-outs of deer, printed with the Chinese character for “horse.”
They reflected the Chinese idiom: “Point at a deer, call it a horse,” used to refer to deliberate misrepresentation.
Leung said that the government had “majority support” from residents for the election proposal, citing unspecified opinion polls as backing the plan by between 50 and 60 percent.
The government has asked all 70 Hong Kong legislators to meet with Beijing officials in Shenzhen on Sunday to discuss the plan.
However, pan-democrat lawmakers questioned what could be achieved, with both Beijing and the Hong Kong authorities consistently saying that they cannot diverge from the candidate screening policy.
“What are we doing in Shenzhen? There is no room for modifications,” pro-democracy Hong Kong Legislator Ray Chan Chi-chuen (陳志全) said in a furious exchange with Leung.
Fifteen pro-democracy lawmakers — with 12 opting out — said they would attend Sunday’s meeting with three Beijing officials who deal with Hong Kong affairs.
Authorities have been criticized by pan-democrats for scheduling the meeting on the same day as a march in Hong Kong to mark the anniversary of Beijing’s Tiananmen Square crackdown.
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