Hong Kong: Pro-democracy lawmakers in Hong Kong yesterday rejected a motion to change the way the city's leader is selected, in a setback to a controversial election reform package proposed by chief executive Donald Tsang.
The motion was one of two in the package, which the democratic camp had said it would vote against because it did not say when the former British colony would realise universal suffrage. "In this era of democracy, we cannot see how Hong Kong people can be deprived of equality and one person, one vote," said lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan.
Despite widespread calls for universal suffrage, Beijing has kept tight control over the pace of democratic reform in Hong Kong. Currently, the chief executive is picked by a committee of 800 electors, and half of the legislature is popularly elected.
China, which regained control over Hong Kong in 1997, has been criticised for ruling out universal suffrage for the 2007 and 2008 elections, and for its refusal to say when general elections could be held.
After several hours of debate, the measure that would have doubled the number of electoral college members to 1,600 in the 2007 election for the next chief executive, won 34 votes for and 24 against, with one abstention. To pass, it needed at least 40 votes in favour. Following the vote, the legislature started debating the second part of Mr Tsang's reform plan, a measure that would add 10 members to the 60-seat legislative council for the 2008 election. Five of those seats would be directly elected.
If, as expected, both proposals fail to pass, analysts say it would severely damage Mr Tsang's standing. The democrats would also be blamed.
Mr Tsang, squeezed between his political masters in Beijing and public opinion in Hong Kong, has argued that the reforms are a step towards full democracy and are the best he can offer. - (Reuters)