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Hong Kong's government lays out reform blueprint

Hong Kong's government proposed political reforms yesterday that fell far short of full democracy, but called for expanding the legislature and adding more people to a committee that picks the Chinese territory's leader.

The highly anticipated blueprint for change wasn't expected to say that it was time for the territory's voters to have the freedom to elect their next leader and the entire legislature. Beijing has ruled out universal suffrage in the near future.

But many pro-democracy lawmakers were hoping that the proposals would give the general public greater say in who runs the territory.

Addressing the legislature, Rafael Hui (許仕仁), the No. 2 ranking leader, unveiled the proposal that a special taskforce has been working on for about a year.

The main suggestions included doubling the size of an election committee that picks the chief executive, increasing the membership from 800 to 1,600. The change was designed to address complaints that the panel has been stacked with figures partial to Beijing and did not adequately represent the public.

The proposed reforms also called for adding 10 more seats to the legislature. Only five of the seats would be directly elected by the public. The other five would be filled by district councilors -- who would be elected by the group of 529 district councilors -- who traditionally handle civic issues in their parts of the city.

The government wants all the proposals to be effective for the selection of the next chief executive in 2007 and the legislative election in 2008. But the changes must be approved by two-thirds of the 60-member legislature.

Hui, the chief administration secretary, urged the lawmakers to support the package.

"Although constitutional development in 2007, 2008 will not take us immediately to the ultimate aim of universal suffrage, it is a substantive and significant step towards that goal," Hui said.

Hui said the key of the reform proposals lies in the increased engagement of district councilors in the leader election committee and in the legislature.

Hong Kong's 529 district councilors include 400 directly elected members, 102 appointed by the city's leader and 27 rural village leaders.
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