The Government has received more than 100,000 submissions in the second-round political reform consultation, and will strive to announce the results in April, Chief Secretary Carrie Lam said today, as the consultation period came to a close.
Speaking to the media today, Mrs Lam said she hoped the Legislative Council can vote and approve the constitutional reform proposal before the summer recess, to respond to the public’s wishes to implement universal suffrage in 2017.
When discussing National People's Congress Standing Committee Chairman Zhang Dejiang’s recent remarks, Mrs Lam said Mr Zhang was making an appeal, which rightly pointed out that if universal suffrage could not be implemented in 2017, the Chief Executive would continue to be elected by the Election Committee as in 2012.
She said people may believe that universal suffrage could be implemented in 2022 if not in 2017. She warned there is no certainty that this would happen as it depends on whether there is political room to restart the five-step process of constitutional development at that time.
Mrs Lam added that she will make the best effort to garner the pan-democrats’ support, by clearly explaining the proposal and analysing the drawbacks if it were to be rejected.
She said constitutional reform is a huge issue which affects sovereignty, national safety and interests, and urged pan-democrats to promote political reform in accordance with the Basic Law and relevant principles.
