Mon, Sep 26, 2005 page5

• HK inches toward democracy

  PROPOSAL The government is considering a plan to allow neighborhood councilors, most of whom are elected, to join the committee that chooses the territory's leader

  • NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE
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  In the summers of 2003 and 2004, hundreds of thousands of protesters filled the streets here to call for the direct election of Hong Kong's chief executive and the entire legislature. But the demand was quickly ruled out by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's rubber-stamp parliament.

  Now, with unexpected support from Beijing, the government here is preparing to move a step closer to fully democratic representation with an election plan to be announced next month.

  The proposal involves giving a greater role to neighborhood councilors -- most of whom are elected by Hong Kong voters -- in choosing the chief executive and six of the 70 members of Hong Kong's legislature, the chairmen of the three main political parties here said in separate interviews.

  

  Hong Kong legislator ``Long Hair'' Leung Kwok-hung, center, wears a T-shirt featuring tanks at Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989 and the words ``People will not forget,'' while touring a high-tech park in Shenzhen yesterday with other Hong Kong legislators. The legislators were invited by Beijing on a two-day tour to three mainland cities.

  PHOTO: AP

  All three chairmen voiced qualified support for the outlines of the plan, while saying that they wanted to see the final details.

  The two parties that have traditionally backed the Hong Kong government -- the pro-business Liberal Party and the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, or DAB -- had both advocated more restrictive plans for constitutional changes that would have guaranteed more influence for their politicians.

  The government's plan "is not our first choice, but we could live with that," said James Tien (田北俊), the chairman of the Liberal Party, in an interview on Thursday.

  Ma Lik (馬力), the chairman of the DAB, said on Wednesday that the plan was risky for his party and the Chinese leadership because it made it theoretically possible for a pro-democracy majority to be elected in the Legislative Council here. But, he added, "it's obvious that Beijing gave the green light" for Chief Executive Donald Tsang (曾蔭權) to proceed with the complex plan.

  Lee Wing-tat (李永達), the chairman of the Democratic Party, said in an interview last week that depending on the details of the plan, his party might support it. Democracy advocates make up a little more than two-fifths of the legislature, and that gives them a veto for any plan for electoral changes, which require the support of two-thirds of the legislature.

  Lee said his party remained concerned that the executive branch, led by Tsang, chooses 102 of the 529 neighborhood councilors in Hong Kong. The appointed members are mostly business leaders who tilt toward Beijing.

  The Democratic Party wants the appointed councilors excluded from selecting any members of the legislature or the chief executive; the DAB and the Liberal Party want the appointed councilors included.

  Raymond Tam, principal assistant secretary for constitutional affairs, declined to comment on the electoral plan, but he did say that the government intended to move toward "the ultimate aim of universal suffrage in a gradual and orderly manner," and wanted to make the chief executive and legislative council more representative.

  In a further attempt to woo democrats, Beijing invited all 60 members of the legislature here to visit nearby Chinese cities yesterday and today. It will be the first time that many pro-democracy lawmakers will have been allowed across the border since the Tiananmen Square killings on June 4, 1989.

  There are currently 800 members -- including 42 of the district councilors -- of the Election Committee, which choose the chief executive. Under the new plan, all district councilors would join the Election Committee along with several hundred representatives of business, professional groups and grass-roots organizations, doubling the total membership to 1,600.
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