The Hong Kong government will not conduct a referendum on electoral arrangements for 2007 and 2008, Chief Secretary for Administration Donald Tsang said on Tuesday.
Tsang said that the proposal submitted by some of the special administrative region's (SAR's) legislators is simply not practical.
"All of us, whether we are a legislator or a member of the administration, have to be practical on constitutional development issues. We cannot contravene the decision taken by the National People's Congress Standing Committee on April 26 this year," Tsang stated.
Changing the methods for selecting the chief executive in 2007 and for forming the Legislative Council (LegCo) in 2008 requires agreement by two-thirds of LegCo members, the chief executive, and the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.
"The proposal is not in accordance with the procedures set out in the Basic Law with regard to reaching a consensus on constitutional development. It would amount to a waste of time and energy, and a needless distraction for the community," Tsang said.
He emphasized that the government is very clear that it will not conduct a referendum on this matter.
The Constitutional Development Task Force of the Hong Kong government is currently studying the views of the public regarding electoral methods to be considered for amendment for 2007 and 2008, according to Tsang.
"The public have given us very valuable and practical and also reasoned views. These views will form the basis of the Fourth Report of the Task Force, which will be released before the end of this year," he said.
Tsang said that the Fourth Report will give a clear summary of these views, so that the public can discuss them in greater depth and hopefully reach a consensus on a best way forward.
The government hopes that a consensus will emerge from the community by mid-2005. It that time it will write a Fifth Report, establishing a mainstream proposal to facilitate further discussion.
"Once we have secured the required consensus, we will proceed with the legislative work," he said.
(Xinhua News Agency October 20, 2004)
