The government has the determination and sincerity to come up with a solution to the constitutional development issue during its term of office, Chief Secretary for Administration Henry Tang said yesterday.

Chief Executive Donald Tsang has already made a request to the National People's Congress Standing Committee to embark on the review of the electoral methods, Tang told the Legislative Council (LegCo) yesterday.

"This represents the utmost sincerity of the chief executive and the government to take forward Hong Kong's democratic development," he said.

(From left) Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Stephen Lam, Chief Secretary for Administration Henry Tang and Secretary for Justice Wong Yan-lung explain the details of a report regarding the outcome of a public consultation on constitutional development yesterday. Edmond Tang
 
The chief secretary was briefing lawmakers on a report the government submitted yesterday to the Standing Committee regarding the outcome of a public consultation on constitutional development in the special administrative region.

The government received 18,200 written submissions and more than 150,000 signatures during the public consultation, he said.

Various political parties and groups in LegCo supported the formation of chief executive nominating committee by 800 or more than 800 members, he told the lawmakers.

For the model forming LegCo, Tang said the community generally hopes progress can be made at an early date regarding the implementation of universal suffrage, and more than half the respondents to different opinion polls hope universal suffrage for the chief executive can precede that for LegCo.

Opinion polls indicate more than half the respondents support the implementation of universal suffrage for the chief executive and LegCo in 2012, he said.

Of the 18,200 written submissions received, about 12,600 submissions supported universal suffrage in 2012. At the same time about 60 percent accepted the implementation of universal suffrage for the chief executive in 2017, if this cannot be attained in 2012.

For LegCo, more than half the respondents accept the implementation of universal suffrage in 2016 or thereafter, if this cannot be attained in 2012.

Tang said half the LegCo members want universal suffrage for the chief executive to be implemented by 2017, in 2017 or after 2017, followed by universal suffrage for LegCo.

More than two-thirds of all District Councils support the implementation of universal suffrage for the chief executive by 2017, in 2017 or after 2017, and universal suffrage for LegCo should follow.

"We hope the community will continue to adopt a pragmatic approach and seek common ground to reach consensus on the early implementation of universal suffrage," he told the legislature.

Tam Yiu-chung, chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said it would be difficult to have dual universal suffrage in 2012.

"Year 2017 is the golden mean as some want a faster pace and some want a slower pace," he said. "It is also easier to first elect the CE by universal suffrage in 2017 and later elect the LegCo as soon as possible."

Liberal Party chairman James Tien said if the CE is to be returned by universal suffrage in 2012, there should be a higher threshold for candidates. Tsang Hin-chi, a Hong Kong member of the NPC Standing Committee, said CE election by universal suffrage no later than 2017 is a pragmatic arrangement.

Having universal suffrage for the chief executive prior to the LegCo fulfilled the wish of most of the Hong Kong people, he added.

(China Daily HK edition December 13, 2007)