10-09-2014
Twenty-three pan-democratic lawmakers say they will boycott the government's second public consultation on political reform, calling it a 'pointless' exercise, and a 'waste of time.'
They say the highly conservative framework laid out by Beijing on the 2017 chief executive election leaves no room for meaningful discussion.
And they've repeated their vow to veto any reform package that's based on the decision by the National People's Congress last month.
The Democratic Party's Emily Lau said the people may have been fooled by the first five-month consultation that ended in May, but they shouldn't fall for the same trick twice.
The Chairman of the Basic Law Institute, Alan Hoo, earlier said the pan-democrats should not veto the electoral reform package when it's put to a vote in the Legislative Council.
He said they should rethink their strategy, and focus instead on trying to secure a firm timetable for future changes to the electoral system.
Mr Hoo said the framework for political reform set out by Beijing is not a complete loss for the people of Hong Kong.
http://rthk.hk/rthk/news/englishnews/20140910/news_20140910_56_1036124.htm
