Chanting slogans cannot take forward universal suffrage, the Constitutional Affairs Bureau says.

In response to a public meeting and procession today, the bureau said the Central Authorities and the Hong Kong Government are firmly committed to promoting constitutional development in accordance with the Basic Law, with a view to achieving the ultimate aim of universal suffrage.

It said the Government plans to devise a roadmap for universal suffrage before formulating a timetable.

The community must first have sufficient discussions and broad consensus on the models for universal suffrage, to then develop a roadmap for universal suffrage.

Once there is a roadmap, the timetable for attaining universal suffrage would fall into place naturally.

The Government aims to publish a report in 2007 that draws conclusions on the discussion of the Commission on Strategic Development, and to submit the report to the Central Authorities.The report will provide a basis for the third-term Government to continue to take forward Hong Kong's democratisation.