The people of Hong Kong, not Beijing, will decide constitutional changes, says Chan
Hong Kong (AsiaNews/SCMP) Whether Beijing likes it or not, Hong Kong's political system should be revamped so that in future opposition lawmakers could govern and political parties take a more active role, this according to former Hong Kong's Chief Secretary Anson Chan Fang On-sang, who oversaw the Territory's transition from British Crown Colony status to that of Autonomous Chinese Territory.
In her most comprehensive address yet on Hong Kong's constitutional arrangements since she retired from government in 2001, she criticised continued delays in amending the Territory's Basic Law.
She objected to keeping functional constituencies indefinitely, saying the government should consider removing corporate votes and widening the electorate when moving towards universal suffrage.
She noted that the public seemed to have more confidence in civil servants instead of their popularly elected representative because the current system was fundamentally wrong and could never encourage politicians to govern with responsibility.
"The chief executive criticised political parties for opposing for the sake of opposing," she said. "But we have to ask why . . . ?"
Her answer: "Because under our current system, every time when there are Legco elections, we are in effect electing an opposition party. Political parties can never aspire to become a ruling party under the present constitutional arrangement. So how do you instil a sense of responsibility? You can't."
In her opinion, once political parties are in power, they would have to make realistic and responsible decisions, or risk being voted out of office at the next election.
Efforts should also be made to dispel the myth that a democratically-elected government would inevitably espouse an anti-business agenda.
Constitutional change, Mrs Chan argued, should recognise that international human rights treaties have been incorporated into the Basic Law to ensure that everyone had the right and opportunity to take part in public affairs and elections.
"Universal and equal suffrage are unequivocal in meaning and certainly not interchangeable with the concept of some sort of engineered 'balanced participation'a concept being touted as justification for retaining functional constituencies indefinitely," she said.
Ms Chan said it would be for the government and the people of Hong Kong to determine the changes and timetable on the legislature's composition, referring to the Basic Law requirement that such changes need only be reported to Beijing for the record rather than approval.
"Political parties are here to stay, whether they like it or not," she insisted. "So they have a choice of either participating in the political process, or in the longer run, being pushed to one side."
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