HK reform supporters to demonstrate

By Yuen Yeuk-laam Source:Global Times Published: 2015-6-12 0:28:01

Several opposition groups plan protests to put pressure on lawmakers


A Hong Kong group which supports the government's electoral reform package plans to hold a demonstration outside the Legislative Council (LegCo) starting from June 17, when the region's legislature is set to vote on the package.

The Hong Kong government may face fresh challenges from opposition parties if the package does not pass, but this would create space for policy adjustments and the further pursuit of consensus, analysts said.

The demonstration aims to show what the majority of Hong Kong residents think about the proposed electoral reforms and encourage the legislators to vote yes, Robert Chow Yung from the Alliance for Peace and Democracy, who organized the event, told the Global Times.

At least 30 other civic groups and organizations have said they will take part, Chow said, adding that the organizers expect that thousands of people will attend the event.

"We learned that opposition groups are going to protest outside the building, to pressure the pan-democratic legislators into voting down the reform plan. Therefore, we think that it is important to have the majority's voice be heard and to let the legislators know that Hong Kong's citizens are backing them up," he said.

The demonstration will begin on the morning of June 17 and will last until the LegCo finishes debating and voting on the reform plan. The government expects this will take two to three days.

Several pan-democratic groups including Scholarism, which participated in the Occupy protests, vowed earlier that they will launch a five-day-long protest outside the LegCo building starting from June 14 to put pressure on the government.

Regarding possible conflict between the two groups, Chow said they will discuss emergency measures with the LegCo and the police department. Hundreds of volunteers will also be deployed to help control the crowds.

Christopher Chung Shu-kun, a local lawmaker, told the Global Times that if the reform package is passed, it will be a big step forward for the local political system.

To pass, the plan will need to be endorsed by two-thirds of the 70 members of the LegCo before it is reviewed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress in Beijing.

This means that at least four pan-democratic lawmakers' support is needed.

In a recent poll conducted by the New Territories Association of Societies, an organization that promotes cooperation between civic groups, 828 Hong Kong voters were interviewed and the association found that more than 85 percent of respondents were in favor of the region's chief executive being elected through universal suffrage. Only 3.6 percent said they disagreed with this.

Chung warned that if the package is not passed, the introduction of universal suffrage will also be delayed by for at least five years.

Yin Hongbiao, a professor of international relations at Peking University, told the Global Times that the region's political system will not regress even if the package fails to pass, and that Hong Kong society should play down its internal conflicts to reduce the impact these divisions have on the city's development.



Posted in: HK/Macao/Taiwan

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