Hong Kong’s legislature yesterday vetoed a China-backed electoral reform package criticised by opposition pro-democracy lawmakers and activists as undemocratic, easing for now the prospect of fresh mass protests in the financial hub.
The rejection had been expected and will likely appease some activists who had demanded a veto of what they call a “fake” democratic model for how the Chinese-controlled territory chooses its next leader in 2017.
But it was a setback for Beijing’s Communist leaders, who said they remained committed to universal suffrage for Hong Kong but signalled no further concessions.
Beijing had pressured and cajoled the city’s pro-democracy lawmakers to back the blueprint that would have allowed a direct vote for the city’s chief executive, but with only pre-screened, pro-Beijing candidates on the ballot.
The vote came earlier than expected, with only 37 of the 70 members of the Legislative Council, known as “legco,” present. Of these, 28 legislators voted against and eight voted in favour, while one did not cast a vote.
The city’s current pro-Beijing leader Leung Chun-ying said: “Universal suffrage for the chief executive election has now been blocked. Universal suffrage to elect all members of legco has also become uncertain.”
In an unexpected twist, moments before the ballot a large number of pro-establishment and pro-Beijing lawmakers suddenly walked out of the chamber. The votes of one-third of legco members are sufficient to push through a veto.
Democratic lawmakers, all 27 of whom voted against the plan, marched to the front of the chamber immediately after the veto and unfurled a sign calling for genuine universal suffrage and for Hong Kongers not to give up.
