'Occupy Central' unacceptable

The "Occupy Central referendum" organized by the radical faction of the opposition campwrapped up on Sunday as all political parties and groups involvedmade their last effort to persuade asmany people as they could to support this unconstitutional poll.However, nomatter howhard they try, this pollwill have no legal status.

According towellestablished international understanding, a referendumis the utmost constitutional exercise of direct democracy in representative democracies around theworld. Itmust be initiated by the executive and legislative branches of the government and approved by the judiciary, according to the country's constitution.HongKong is a special administrative region of the country, and therefore does not have constitutional authority to hold a referendum.Only the Central People'sGovernment can be authorized to call a referendumwhen theNational People's Congress finds it necessary and convinces the Supreme People's Court to give its blessing.

The "Occupy Central referendum" organizers arewell aware of this basic constitutional knowledge, but theywent aheadwith their unconstitutional exercise, once again baring their readiness to break ruleswhenever they feel like doing so. They call it a "popular vote", only to be reminded by the SAR government that HongKong's existing lawhas nothing of the sort in its relevant codes.Where has their obsessionwith international standards gonewhen they count?