Hong Kong’s legislature yesterday vetoed a China-backed electoral reform package criticized by opposition pro-democracy lawmakers and activists as undemocratic, easing for now the prospect of fresh mass protests in the financial hub.
The rejection had been expected and is likely to appease some activists who had demanded a veto of what they call a “fake” democratic model for how the Chinese-controlled territory chooses its next leader in 2017.
However, it was a setback for Beijing’s communist leaders, who said in response that they remained committed to universal suffrage for Hong Kong, but signalled no further concessions to the pro-democracy opposition.
Photo: EPA
Beijing had pressured and cajoled pro-democracy lawmakers to back the blueprint that would have allowed a direct vote for the territory’s chief executive, but with only pre-screened, pro-Beijing candidates on the ballot.
The vote came earlier than expected, with only 37 of the 70 members of the Legislative Council, known as “Legco,” present. Of these, 28 legislators voted against the blueprint and eight voted in favor, while one did not cast a vote.
“Today 28 Legco members voted against the wishes of the majority of Hong Kong people, and denied them the democratic right to elect the chief executive in the next election,” pro-Beijing Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying (梁振英) said.
Photo: Bloomberg
“Universal suffrage for the chief executive election has now been blocked. Universal suffrage to elect all members of Legco has also become uncertain. I, the government and millions of Hong Kong people are disappointed,” he said.
A spokesman for China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress, said a few Hong Kong lawmakers remained “stubbornly opposed” to the central government.
“It fully exposes their selfish interests, hinders Hong Kong’s democratic development and damages the essence of Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability,” the spokesman said, in comments carried by state news agency Xinhua.
In an unexpected twist, moments before the ballot a large number of pro-establishment and pro-Beijing lawmakers suddenly walked out of the chamber. The votes of one-third of Legco members are sufficient to push through a veto.
Democratic lawmakers, all 27 of whom voted against the plan, marched to the front of the chamber immediately after the veto and unfurled a sign calling for genuine universal suffrage and for Hong Kongers not to give up.
Some carried the yellow umbrellas that became a symbol of the mass protest movement that brought parts of the former British colony to a standstill last year.
“This veto has helped Hong Kong people send a clear message to Beijing ... that we want a genuine choice, a real election,” pan-democratic lawmaker Alan Leong (梁家傑) said.
“This is not the end of the democratic movement,” he said. “This is a new beginning.”
Outside the legislature, pro-democracy protesters broke into cheers and clapped wildly after the result.
In Taiwan, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) voiced its support for the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong and urged Beijing to respect the will of the people.
“What happened at the Hong Kong Legislative Council is a reflection of public opinion in Hong Kong,” DPP spokesperson Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) said.
“The DPP urges both the Hong Kong government and Beijing to respect the people’s will to pursue democracy, listen to the public, engage in genial communication and positively respond to reform proposals,” Cheng said.
Additional reporting by Loa Iok-sin
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