The Hong Kong government will not conduct a referendum on
electoral arrangements for 2007 and 2008, Chief Secretary for
Administration Donald Tsang said on Tuesday.
Tsang said that the proposal submitted by some of the special
administrative region's (SAR's) legislators is simply not
practical.
"All of us, whether we are a legislator or a member of the
administration, have to be practical on constitutional development
issues. We cannot contravene the decision taken by the National
People's Congress Standing Committee on April 26 this year," Tsang
stated.
Changing the methods for selecting the chief executive in 2007
and for forming the Legislative Council (LegCo) in 2008 requires
agreement by two-thirds of LegCo members, the chief executive, and
the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.
"The proposal is not in accordance with the procedures set out
in the Basic Law with regard to reaching a consensus on
constitutional development. It would amount to a waste of time and
energy, and a needless distraction for the community," Tsang
said.
He emphasized that the government is very clear that it will not
conduct a referendum on this matter.
The Constitutional Development Task Force of the Hong Kong
government is currently studying the views of the public regarding
electoral methods to be considered for amendment for 2007 and 2008,
according to Tsang.
"The public have given us very valuable and practical and also
reasoned views. These views will form the basis of the Fourth
Report of the Task Force, which will be released before the end of
this year," he said.
Tsang said that the Fourth Report will give a clear summary of
these views, so that the public can discuss them in greater depth
and hopefully reach a consensus on a best way forward.
The government hopes that a consensus will emerge from the
community by mid-2005. It that time it will write a Fifth Report,
establishing a mainstream proposal to facilitate further
discussion.
"Once we have secured the required consensus, we will proceed
with the legislative work," he said.
(Xinhua News Agency October 20, 2004)