Hilary Wong
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
The National People's Congress Standing Committee will meet the whole of next week to deliberate on Hong Kong's political reforms and other urgent matters, according to Xinhua.
The news agency said the meeting, to be chaired by NPC chairman Zhang Dejiang, will discuss the report submitted by Chief Executive Leung Chun- ying on the 2017 Chief Executive election and the forming of the Legislative Council in 2016 to see if an amendment to the ordinance is required.
The standing committee is due to officially set a framework for the city's electoral reform after receiving Leung's report.
Meanwhile, the central government's liaison office director Zhang Xiaoming told pan-democrats that the NPC Standing Committee has not yet finalized the framework for universal suffrage for the 2017 election.
Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood chief Frederick Fung Kin-kee said Zhang told him and three other pan-democrats this during a two-hour meeting yesterday.
Fung said the meeting was held in a good atmosphere as both sides were willing to listen and respond.
"It was not too late for us pan-democrats to talk to a central government representative," he said,
According to a source, Zhang said the Legco election is different from the CE election.
While the political spectrum can be wide among Legco lawmakers, in legal terms the chief executive is under the central government.
Zhang also said there is no fixed mode of universal suffrage that suits a
Fung said they urged Beijing to only lay down the basic principles on universal suffrage and leave room for discussion.
He also said it will be "an important decision that will determine whether Hong Kong will be in heaven or in hell."
The other pan-democrats at the meeting were Charles Mok Nai-kwong, education-sector lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen and health services-sector lawmaker Joseph Lee Kok-long.
According to Fung, "Zhang believed the NPC attaches great importance to the meeting with the pan-democrats and that Zhang will report the discussion content to the NPC as a reference for discussion."
Ip said there was also discussion on the nation's safety.
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=11&art_id=148530&sid=42830058&con_type=3&d_str=20140819&fc=2
