Hong Kong’s democracy activists are planning a street vote to gauge protesters’ views on conciliatory offers from the territorial government, as Hong Kong’s first chief executive yesterday called on them to clear the streets.
The leaders of the mass demonstrations that have paralyzed parts of the territory for almost a month said they would poll demonstrators at the main protest camp opposite government headquarters tomorrow evening.
During face-to-face talks on Tuesday with student leaders, government negotiators offered to write a report to Beijing detailing protester sentiments. They also suggested that both sides could set up a joint committee to discuss further political reform beyond the next leadership elections in 2017.
Photo: AFP
The student leaders initially dismissed the offers as lacking substance, but have since decided to conduct a straw poll of likely voters to decide on their next move. Details on the poll and how it is to be conducted — including whether it would be extended to the two other protest sites in the Mong Kok and Causeway Bay districts — were expected later yesterday, protest groups said.
“The poll can quantify opinions and tell the government that people in different occupied areas are requesting the government to come up with a practical response,” protest leader Alex Chow (周永康) told reporters.
Plans for the vote came as former Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-hwa (董建華) called the protests a “gross violation,” adding that the consequences of continuing the rallies beyond a month were “very serious.”
Tung was Hong Kong’s first chief executive after the 1997 handover and was himself ousted after huge protests.
“We need to end this occupation, because not only... is it hurting the livelihood of people, but it is a gross violation of the law,” Tung told reporters in his first public comments since the protests began.
“One month is a long time already and the consequences of prolonging this occupation are very, very serious,” he said of the movement’s impact on the city’s economy.
One pro-democracy legislator dismissed Tung’s comments, saying they would have little impact on predominantly young protesters who have no respect for a former leader known for his consistently pro-Beijing politics.
“[The government] is acting out of desperation if it felt Tung Chee-hwa just might command some moral or ideological authority over the general population here. That is more than a myth; it is just a joke,” Hong Kong Legislative Council legislator Claudia Mo (毛孟靜) told reporters.
Tung also lent his support to embattled Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying (梁振英).
“During this time when there are many risks, I feel he has performed very well and has also gained the trust of the Chinese government,” he said
Tung had his own share of troubles with pro-democracy protests, when 500,000 people took part in a rally against a proposed national security bill in 2003, forcing his administration to shelve it.
It was a key factor in his resignation 18 months later.
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