Pan-democrats should not obstruct reform

Pro-democracy protesters from a politically active Christian church, holding up yellow umbrellas, a symbol of the Occupy Central civil disobedience movement, sing Christmas carols at Times Square in Hong Kong December 24, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has released its "Consultation Report and Proposals on the Method for Selecting the Chief Executive by Universal Suffrage", which involves three major aspects:

First, it stipulates the formation and method of selection of the Nomination Committee. The Nomination Committee shall be composed of 1,200 members from four major sectors and 38 subsectors. Each major sector will consist of 300 members, with the number and method of selection of the members in the various sectors remaining the same.

Second, it stipulates that the Nomination Committee will nominate the candidates for the position of chief executive. First, people who are recommended by 120 members of the Nomination Committee can be initial candidates, and each member of the Nomination Committee should support at least two candidates, and the two to three candidates with the most votes and receiving the support of more than half of the Nomination Committee members will be the final candidates in the election to choose the chief executive.

Third, it stipulates the election criteria of universal suffrage. All the 5 million eligible voters in the HKSAR may vote for any of the two to three candidates put forward by the Nomination Committee through "one person, one vote", and the candidate with the highest number of votes will be elected.

The universal suffrage proposal has legitimacy because it is in accordance with the Basic Law and the decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Aug 31 last year.

The proposal is in accordance with the real situation in Hong Kong. For instance, the definition of four major sectors and 38 subsectors considers balanced participation, which is different from the party politics found in many foreign countries.

Since Hong Kong returned to China in 1997, it has made remarkable democratic progress. The universal suffrage proposal in 2017 is genuine universal suffrage that is in accordance with universal suffrage criteria.

The political reform proposal will probably be presented for a vote in Hong Kong's Legislative Council in June. The Basic Law stipulates the political reform proposal can only be passed with the support of more than two-thirds of the Legislative Council members. Currently there are 70 Legislative Council members, which means the proposal will only be passed if it receives 47 affirmative votes.

There are 27 pan-democracy members, whose votes will therefore be crucial to Hong Kong's political reform. The pan-democracy members should fully understand the significance of the political reform proposal for Hong Kong society, and support the proposal for the sake of Hong Kong's democratic, social and economic development.

However, currently Hong Kong pan-democracy Legislative Council members resolutely claim that they will veto any proposal based on the Aug 31 Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, and even take actions to oppose it. If they adhere to this stance it will seriously undermine Hong Kong's political reform.

The SAR government needs to fully demonstrate the necessity, feasibility and significance of the political reform proposal to residents, and make every effort to win the support of the majority, in order to put pressure on the pan-democracy members to vote in favor of the proposal.

Hong Kong's democratic process would be seriously hindered if this round of political reform fails.

The author is a professor of law at Peking University.