The publication of the Green Paper on Constitutional Development marks the delivery of the Chief Executive's electoral promise, the Constitutional & Mainland Affairs Bureau says.

In response to Anson Chan's open letter to the Chief Executive today, the bureau said the release of the green paper fully demonstrates leadership on the part of the Government in that we have, for the first time in Hong Kong's history, set out methodically the key issues to be addressed for consensus on universal suffrage to be attained.

These were consolidated from over 300 submissions the Government has received. The paper would not do justice to these submissions if it were only to highlight the three proposals received from the major political parties.

In total, there are several key issues to be addressed, including the number of members of the nominating committee and its composition, the number of Chief Executive candidates to be put forth for election by universal suffrage, how the current functional constituency elections can be replaced, and the timetable for implementing universal suffrage.

All submissions received will be made public. However, the submissions of specific organisations or individuals cannot override the consensual view of the community, as reflected in the opinion polls and the position of the LegCo as a whole.