Hong Kong’s government officially unveiled its plan for electoral reform yesterday. As expected, the proposal — which will be put to a vote this summer — is in essence a rehash of the controversial blueprint approved by Beijing’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee last August. With the last slim hope for compromise gone, the debate over Hong Kong’s elections is heating up once again.
The major concession to last year’s massive “Occupy Central protests,” which denounced the NPCSC plan, is that the new proposal allows candidates to enter the nominating process after being approved by only 120 members of the 1,200-strong nominating committee. However, the final three candidates (which will be the public’s only options for the popular vote) will still need to be approved by at least half of the committee. Critics say that the nominating committee includes too many pro-Beijing elements for any pan-democrat candidate to ever reach that threshold of support, effectively barring them from running for Hong Kong’s highest office.
China’s Foreign Ministry signaled its strong support for the election plan, with spokesman Hong Lei calling it “lawful, feasible, sensible and practical.” Hong also denounced foreign criticisms, saying that the proposal was a “comprehensive reflection of opinions and suggestions given by the Hong Kong public.”
Read Full Article HERE