Admin & Civic Affairs

No barriers in reform document

(December 05, 2013)

Chief Secretary Carrie Lam says the Government is not tabling any specific proposals or imposing any barriers in the constitutional reform consultation document.
 
Speaking to the media today, Mrs Lam said the Government has been cautious in preparing the document on the methods for selecting the Chief Executive in 2017 and for forming the Legislative Council in 2016.
 
The document's content is based on constitutional and legal documents.
 
She said the visit of the National People's Congress Standing Committee Deputy Secretary-General and Basic Law Committee Chairman Li Fei and NPCSC Legislative Affairs Commission Vice-Chairperson and Basic Law Committee Vice-Chairperson Zhang Rongshun was to exchange views with Hong Kong people, not for setting a framework for the consultation.
 
Messrs Li and Zhang are Basic Law experts, so their visit was to make the consultation run smoothly, Mrs Lam said.
 
There is no international standard definition for universal suffrage, she said, adding that according to the United Nations, each jurisdiction can formulate a suitable electoral method which suits its social, economic, historical and political situation, but the method must have a legal foundation.