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The Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Stephen Lam, attended a Commercial Radio programme this morning (April 15). Following is the transcript of Mr Lam's remarks to the media afterwards:
Yesterday we had presented to the Legislative Council (LegCo) our proposals for the 2012 electoral reforms. These reforms have substantive democratic improvements. For example, we are proposing that the size of LegCo should be increased to a total of 70 seats. The 10 new seats will all have a democratic basis - five will be directly elected in geographical constituencies and five new functional seats will be returned by elected district councillors electing amongst themselves through proportional representation. So, we would call on all political parties in Hong Kong to support this proposal so that Hong Kong can make genuine democratic progress in 2012.
Furthermore, the Deputy Secretary-General of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Mr Qiao Xiaoyang, stated in Beijing yesterday that the 2007 universal suffrage timetable decision has legal effect and is beyond any doubt. He also said that Beijing has already thrown open the door to universal suffrage. Hong Kong only needs to attain consensus amongst ourselves on the universal suffrage electoral models for the Chief Executive and for LegCo, complete the five-step procedures, and then universal suffrage can be implemented here. This is a genuine universal suffrage timetable. We should seize the moment.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Thursday, April 15, 2010
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