As the row over the 2017 Chief Executive election by universal suffrage continues, various political parties, scholars and concerned groups have rolled out their electoral packages. Judging by the merits of all the proposals, the one presented on Tuesday by the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) - the city's largest political party - is most workable, reasonable, fair and pragmatic, and is therefore worth a shot.

The DAB's package is strictly in accord with the cardinal principles of the Basic Law and the 2007 decisions by the National People Congress Standing Committee. The DAB insists that the nominating committee (NC) is the only authority to pick CE candidates. To make the NC broadly representative, the body could be enlarged from 1,200 to 1,600 members, with several new sub-sectors covering women, youngsters and small businesses. The DAB's proposal shows the party's resolve and commitment to promoting democratic development in Hong Kong.

While sticking to the legal framework, the package offers a raft of genuine democratic elements to reflect the actual situation in the SAR as well as the collective will of the vast majority of its people. The NC would have to vote before putting forward CE candidates, with each committee member electing not more than four contenders. Two to four candidates who manage to secure the committee's majority support and the highest votes would qualify to be in the race.

The Block Vote system, which is practiced world-wide, is relatively simple for voters to understand. The two-stage nomination method is in line with democratic procedures while ensuring that the collective will of the majority of the committee members can be precisely reflected. Its ultimate purpose is to facilitate a genuine democratic election. According to DAB chairman Tam Yiu-chung, their package is based on the result of several polls, and genuinely reflects mainstream public opinion.

The DAB's sincerity and commitment deserve full support and recognition from Legislative Council members and the public. It is hoped that the proposals would establish a strong foundation of mutual trust, on top of which a consensus could be built. Eventually, the SAR government could take on board a package which would be in the best interest of the community, and table it for the central government's endorsement.

Various polls have pointed to the fact that the majority of the public want our constitutional system to move forward rather than being stalled, although Hong Kong's path towards democracy is tortuous. All stakeholders across the political divide, for the sake of Hong Kong's overall interest and achieving the common goal of universal suffrage, should embrace the spirit of the rule of law by casting aside any attempt to circumvent the nominating committee, and adopting a rational stance in further discussions on constitutional reform.

(HK Edition 04/23/2014 page9)