A pro-democracy lawmaker yesterday accused opponents of toeing Beijing's line by voting against a proposal to consult the public on whether to hold direct elections for Hong Kong's leader and all legislators.
Pro-Beijing and big-business lawmakers who dominate Hong Kong's legislature rejected the nonbinding motion late on Wednesday with a 30 to 18 vote, dealing a blow to the push for quicker democracy in the territory.
"They obviously don't want to upset Beijing on this issue," said Andrew Cheng, who introduced the measure.
"The political inclination now is to be as conservative as possible and suppress dissenting politicians," he said.
Cheng's motion urged the government to seek public views about whether Hong Kong's leader and all lawmakers should be directly elected in 2007 and 2008 respectively. Twelve lawmakers did not vote on Wednesday.
Ordinary citizens in this former British colony currently have no say in electing their leader, who was picked by an 800-member committee loyal to Beijing.
Hong Kong's people are only allowed to choose some of their lawmakers -- though the number will rise to 30 members of the 60-seat Legislative Council in September's elections, up from 24 in the 2000 elections.
Many Hong Kong people are clamoring for full democracy, but Beijing has made it clear that the territory cannot change election rules on its own.
Calls for full democracy have gained momentum since half a million people marched in July against a Beijing-backed anti-subversion bill that many feared would threaten Hong Kong's Western-style freedoms -- guaranteed after the hand-over to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.
Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa (董建華) backed down on the anti-subversion bill after the march. People gained a new sense of empowerment and have been pushing for more democracy.
Hong Kong's mini-constitution, the Basic Law, sets out democracy as an eventual goal, but the government has so far provided no timetable.
The law also requires anti-subversion legislation, but also with no time schedule.
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