Hong Kong to consult public on democratic reforms

Hong Kong Chief Secretary for Administration Henry Tang told lawmakers the government has issued a public consultation document that proposes expanding the legislature by 10 seats and the panel that selects the territory's leader by 400 people in time for 2012 elections.

It's unclear how much support the new proposals will enjoy among Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp. Their legislators blocked a similar reform package in December 2005, complaining that it didn't go far enough.

The leader in this former British colony is currently chosen by an 800-member panel stacked with loyalists to Beijing.

Half of its 60-member legislature is elected, with the other half chosen by interest groups. Hong Kong's political opposition has been campaigning for full democracy for years, but China ruled in December 2007 that the territory can only elect its leader in 2017 and its entire legislature after that, in 2020 at the earliest. That ruling left open the door for limited reforms in the meantime.

Tang said Wednesday the new proposals are an improvement on the 2005 package in that the latest proposal would add elected district councilors to the leader selection panel.

Besides Hong Kong, the formerly Portuguese-ruled gambling enclave Macau was also allowed to preserve its Western-style political system when it returned to Chinese rule in 1999.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email