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Democracy "May" Be Coming To Hong Kong

... in 2020 (or so)

BY CASSIE BIGGS, Associated Press Writer
Sat Dec 29, 7:34 AM ET

HONG KONG - Hong Kong will be allowed to directly elect its leader in 2017 and all of its lawmakers by 2020 ... at the earliest, China said Saturday, an announcement that sparked protests by pro-democracy activists who sought an earlier date.



"A timetable for obtaining universal suffrage has been set," the former British colony's leader, Donald Tsang, said in announcing the decision early Saturday. "Hong Kong is entering a most important chapter of its constitutional history."

Political analysts noted that candidates contesting the leadership race may still need to be nominated by an electoral committee and that Beijing will likely remain involved in the election process.

Setting a timetable for universal suffrage would help end conflicts in Hong Kong and allow the bustling financial hub to focus on developing its economy, said Qiao Xiaoyang, a senior member of China's parliament who flew to Hong Kong to explain the decision.

He said Hong Kong would be allowed to choose its leader through a direct election in 2017, and all its lawmakers by 2020 at the earliest. Changes would need to be made gradually, starting in 2012, the date of the next leadership race, he said, without saying what those changes may be.

The widely expected announcement dealt a blow to Hong Kong's opposition pro-democracy camp, which had campaigned heavily for full democracy in 2012 for both the leadership and legislative polls.

Hundreds of people marched through central Hong Kong in protest, saying they had been cheated out of their right to full democracy. Holding banners that read "democracy delayed is democracy denied," they accused Beijing of failing to listen to the wishes of Hong Kong's 7 million people.

"We are extremely disappointed � you could say we are furious � about this decision in ruling out 2012," Democrat Party chairman Albert Ho told Hong Kong government-run RTHK radio station. "The wishes of the Hong Kong people have been totally ignored."

When Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 it was granted a wide degree of autonomy and a pledge that it would ultimately be allowed to directly elect all of its legislators and its leader, although no date was ever given.

Presently, only half of the 60-seat legislature is elected, and the territory's top leader, or chief executive, is chosen by an 800-strong committee full of Beijing sycophants.

In calling for direct elections in 2012, opposition democrats say Hong Kong is mature enough to choose its own government. But Beijing and its allies in Hong Kong's legislature have appealed for a more gradual approach.

Tsang urged all parties to put aside their differences and start thinking about how to implement direct elections for the chief executive in 2017. A task force will be set up to discuss how to amend electoral methods, with the first changes made in 2012, he said.

No details about those interim changes were released, but political observers have said they could include expanding the committee that chooses the chief executive.

In 2017, a nomination committee is expected to select a "certain number" of candidates that the Hong Kong electorate will then vote upon, according to a copy of the decision announced Saturday that was released by China's parliament.

The number of candidates and selection process was not revealed, but Hong Kong's leader had suggested between two and four candidates in a proposal he submitted this month to Beijing, the document said.

Li Pang-kwong, a political analyst at Lingnan University, said Beijing had not completely given up its control of Hong Kong's political scene. Any changes to the electoral process still needed to win a two-thirds majority in the legislature, which is dominated by Beijing's allies, as well as further approval from China, he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071229/ap_on_re_as/hong_kong_democracy
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